The Quarter Mile
by Elven-Fire-Princess
Summary: Seeing as I don't have a definite plot, I don't really have a summary. It will end up being JesseOC, so if anyone is interested you can read it.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do **NOT** own the Fast and the Furious or any of the characters. I own the still developing plot, that's it.

I hope you enjoy. If any of my terminology is incorrect, let me know and I'll fix it. I do not yet have a title for this story, so it will just be named Untitled until I can name it. Thank you.

Fast and the Furious

There was a new driver here tonight, someone from out of town, but they knew the rules. Dom smiled to himself as he watched the driver hand Hector the money, not bothering to get out of the car, which was, in Dom's opinion, a beautiful black Viper with a Wolf howling at the moon on the hood._ Their just another racer to beat, nothing new._ He didn't know how wrong he would be.

The racers lined up, waiting for the all clear to go. They were given the signal to take off and take off they did. Tired squealed, rubber burned and colors blurred past the onlookers. It looked as though the King of the Streets would win, but at the last second the new racer took the lead and beat him. The crowd was silent as the cars skidded to complete stops, they waited to see who had beat Dominic Toretto.

The man in question was both shocked and angry as he got out of his car and looked at the car that beat him. The windows were so tinted he couldn't see inside, he'd have to wait until the person driving got out of the car. The driver side window was rolled down and the driver's arm emerged and he soon found himself being pointed at. He raised an eyebrow and found the hand was now beckoning him towards the car.

He contemplated to himself what his chances were as he began walking to the Viper. He glanced around at the audience as he did this, noticing that they were watching him to see his reaction. He thought that they may be waiting for him to explode, with his temper and all, they weren't far off, he was pretty pissed. He looked back at the car and found that the window had been rolled up again, much to his annoyance. As he reached the hood of the car, the door opened and he stopped to see who it was that was exiting the car.

It surprised him that the person was a woman, but it surprised him more so that she looked familiar. He took in her black pants that had chains all on them and the corset shirt that cut off an inch above her belly button, which he noticed was pierced. He couldn't see most of her face due to the fedora hat that sat low on her bowed head. What made him recognize her was one of the rings on her fingers and the cross that matched. They were silver Celtic knots with obsidian stones in the center of them. His anger disipitated and a small smile graced his lips.

"Surprised?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, a bit." He replied just as softly.

"I hope I didn't disappoint with my performance."

"It was certainly an interesting performance. You beat me, the King of the Streets."

The girl tilted her head up to look at him. "You? King of the Streets?"

"Yeah, me. King of the Streets, don't believe it?"

"Eh, I believe it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the way the crowd is watching you waiting for you to explode at the fact that I beat you kinda tips off the fact that it's true."

"Yeah, I suppose that it does, doesn't it."

"Hey, you wanna do me a favor?"

"And what would that be."

"Make Letty stop trying to make me spontaneously combust."

Dom chuckled as he turned to look at Letty, who was indeed looking as though she was trying to make the girl spontaneously combust, and waved her over. She looked a bit skeptical, but walked over anyway, still glaring at the girl.

"Letty, this is-" Dom began.

"It's good to see you Letty." The girl said, cutting Dom off. "I'ma let you know this again. I'm not into incest."

"Incest?" Letty asked, the glare on her face slowly disappearing.

The girl said nothing as she reached up and removed the hat from her head and thick curls fell to her mid to lower back. The removal of her hat revealed her blue-green and hazel speckled eyes to everyone who was watching. What surprised the crowd though, especially Team Toretto, was that Letty flung her arms around the girl.

Dom laughed and yelled, "Party at my place."

Everybody cheered and then quieted down once again when they heard sirens and quickly got into their cars and began taking off.

"You remember the way?" Dom asked as he and Letty began walking off.

"I'm sure I can manage." The girl replied.

"I'll hold you to that Ash."

"You got it."

The girl, Ash, got into her car and sped off, keeping her eye on Dominic's car so as to not get lost. She pulled into an alleyway as she heard a cop turning the corner and Dom disappeared. She watched from her rearview mirror as Dom came out of a parking complex and pulled his jacket on and began walking before a cop came barreling down the street and caused him to run down another alley. She sighed as she pulled out of the alleyway she was hiding in and cautiously began following after Dom from an adjacent alleyway. She watched as the blonde in an Eclipse picked him up and followed them away from the cops. She stopped her car and shut off her lights as they went out into the busy streets. She watched as they were approached by motorcyclists with guns and watched where they went so she could follow and see what was up. She stepped on the accelerator and followed them after they turned the corner, her lights still off as she watched for cops and other motorcyclists.

She watched as the motorcyclists led Dominic and the blonde off the street and decided that her best bet was to just stay where she was at. About ten minutes later, Ash heard the motorcycles drive off, the sounds of the engines growing faint. As she waited to see the Eclipse pull out of the building area it had been led to, she heard gunshots and stared as she saw the green flames. She sighed as she turned her lights on and drove up to the entrance to find Dom and blonde fine and gave a sigh of relief.

Dom smiled as he saw the car in front of him and the blonde. He watched as the window rolled down and the girl inside smiled at him.

"It looks like you two need a ride." She said with the smile still in place.

"It would seem that way."

"Get in."

The two did so and they were soon off towards Dom's house.

"So, who's he?" Ash asked as she looked at the blonde in the back seat of her car.

"Name's Brian and you are?"

"I'm Ashlynn."

"Nice to meet you."

"Ok, so I know the guy, now tell me what the hell is up with the guys on the 'cycles." Ash said looking over at Dom briefly.

"That was Johnny Tran and his crew." Dom said.

"That tells me who it was, not what the hell is up with them." Ashlynn said giving Dom a pointed look before looking back at the road.

"A business deal went sour and I made the mistake of sleeping with his sister."

Ashlynn sighed and slapped Dom in the arm. "Dumbass."

"Yeah, but you know you love me."

"I love you only because I have to love you." Ashlynn said with a smile as they pulled up to 'The Fort.'

"That hurts, Ash; that really hurts."

"I'm sure it does you big baby."

The three got out of the Viper and Dom began making his way up to the house where a party was going on. Ashlynn followed, noticing that no one seemed too worried about the fact that the man who told everyone there was a party at his house was missing. _That's just sad._ She smiled as Dom invited Brian in, he normally wouldn't give a personal invitation, someone must not like Brian.

Ash watched as a guy who, she thought, was from Dom's team look up and sputtered out, "Hey. Dom. We were about to go looking for you."

She and Brian watched as Dom's temper reached its limit and he knocked the beer out of the guy's hand, causing the girl in his lap to flinch. They watched at Dom walked over to Vince, Ashlynn remembered him, who was playing a few chords on his guitar.

"This your beer?" Dom asked him picking up the beer next to him.

"Yeah, that's my beer… Yo, Dom! Why'd you bring the busta back here?"

"Because the busta kept me outta handcuffs, he didn't just run back to the fort, the buster brought me back."

"There were mass cops out there, that shit was orchestrated."

Dom walked back over to Brian and Ashlynn, "You can have any brew you want as long as it's a Corona."

Ashlynn smiled, some things never change. She didn't pay attention after Brian asked where the bathroom was, Ash had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from answering; that would take the fun out of everything. She didn't pay too much attention and Dom ruffled her hair a bit as he and Letty headed upstairs as Brian was coming downstairs. Vince and two other guys looked like they were going to gang up on Brian when Ashlynn spoke up.

"Leave the guy alone." She muttered as Mia came up.

"Who the hell are you?" Vince growled.

"You know me, it's sad that you don't remember me though. And don't growl at me Vincent, I'll kick your ass." Ashlynn growled back.

"You couldn't kick my ass." Vince sneered.

"I've done it before." Ashlynn said before turning her attention to the two she didn't know. "Since I don't know you, I assume that you showed up after I left."

"After you left?" The one wearing the jersey asked.

"Yeah, I used to live here, just down the street, but due to some circumstances with my parentals, I had to leave." Ashlynn explained with a small smile. "So, what are your names?"

"I'm Leon." Jersey boy replied.

"And I'm Jesse." They boy with the beanie said.

"Since the asshole here can't seem to remember me, I'm Ashlynn." She said with a mock glare towards Vince.

"How do you know Dom?" Leon asked.

"I'm Dom's cousin."

Ashlynn smiled as she saw recognition flash in Vince's eyes before she was swept up in a bear hug.

"Took you long enough." Ashlynn said as she wrapped her arms around Vince as he swung her around in a circle.

"Damn, girl, you grew up. What happened to the dresses and what's up with the chains?" Vince asked as he set her down.

"I stopped wearing dresses after I left, pissed mother off, and I found that I liked this style, so I went with it." Ashlynn said with a smile.

"So, why are you back?" Leon asked.

"Uh, well, mother and father died a couple months ago an-" Ashlynn started.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Vince asked.

"Honestly? I didn't feel like talking about it and I forgot the address." Ashlynn replied sheepishly.

"You live down the street and, I assume, that you were over here quite often and you forget the address. That's kinda sad." Jesse said with a smile.

Ashlynn gave the boy a light push, "First off, you shouldn't assume, it makes an ass out of you and me, and second of all, I didn't particularly care about remembering the address of my house if I wasn't ever going to come back."

"So, why else did you come back?" Leon asked with a smirk to Jesse.

"I inherited the house my parents bought, but it got lonely, so I decided to take a vacation from the quiet. I can only stand it so long before I go insane." Ashlynn said. "And when I left six years ago, Dom told me I was welcome to come back anytime, so, here I am."

"That's interesting." Leon said. "Not, to be rude, but I'm going to get back to the party."

"Don't stop on my account." Ashlynn said with a smile.

"I think I'm going to join him back at the party." Vince said as he kissed Ashlynn on the top of her head. "Good to see ya kid."

"You too old man."

Vince rolled his eyes. "Jesse, think you can handle showing her around, help he re-familiarize herself with the place?"

Jesse nodded, not bothering to take his eyes off of Ashlynn. Vince rolled his eyes again as he walked off. Ashlynn smiled at Jesse as she watched him stare openly at her.

"You don't have to babysit me, I think I can manage remembering my way around the house." She said as she turned to go to the kitchen.

Jesse watched her before quickly catching up to her. "So, how did you beat Dom?"

"I used his own strategy against him." Ashlynn said as she grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked.

"You got somewhere quiet where people can't eves drop?" Ashlynn asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You think I'm going to talk about Dom's strategy in front of people who could end up trying to use it?"

"Good point."

"I know, so, where we going?"

"I suppose the basement would be the best bet."

"To the basement then."

Jesse led the way away from the other people in the house to the only place that no one else was allowed. Ashlynn smiled as she noticed that absolutely nothing had changed, except for the fact that there were two new people and Dom and Letty appeared to be going steady.

"So, what's the big secret?" Jesse asked sitting down on one of the two couches that were down there.

"Well," Ashlynn began as she sat down next to him. "You ever notice how he makes it seem like he's losing?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Jesse asked as he watched her take a sip of the beer she grabbed.

"Well, it's just a game, he let's the other racers think that he's losing and then he waits till the last second to use the Noz. I just used it against him." Ashlynn explained.

"But how did you beat him?"

"I didn't let him see that I was racing against him and I just timed it right I guess. I hadn't really expected to win, it just happened that I did."

"I see." Jesse muttered as he drank some of his beer. "So, how long are you here?"

"I don't know, I've got some stuff to do back home, so I'll have to get back to that." Ashlynn replied.

"Interesting, what kind of stuff?"

"Aren't you nosey." Ashlynn stated with a smile. "Dancing, I instruct some kids classes, and I have a kid to take care of." She winced as she realized what information she let out into the open.

"A kid, really? You're only, what, twenty?"

"Yeah, a kid, and yeah, I'm only twenty."

"How old is it?"

"He's four."

"Sixteen year old mom, what was it like?"

"You're actually curious?"

"Yeah, I guess. Nothing else to talk about."

"You're not like other guys are you?"

"Well, most of the time, I suppose that I am, but I think Dom would probably castrate me if I tried anything I normally do."

"That's probably true. Good thing he doesn't know I have a kid, he's totally flip out."

"Yeah, he would definitely flip out."

"Who would flip out about what?" Came Dom's voice from the stairs.

"Ah, shit." Ashlynn muttered.

"'Ah, shit,' what Ash?" Dom asked.

"Can we talk about it when you come to my house?" Ash asked with puppy eyes.

"Talk about what? And when was it decided that we were coming to your house?"

"The thing I don't want to talk about. When I ended up beating you at the races." Ashlynn said with a smile. "Come on Jesse, let's go back upstairs."

Ashlynn got up and walked past Dom on the stairs, but as Jesse went to follow, Dom blocked his way.

"Jesse, stay here, we're going to talk." Dom said. "Just go on upstairs Ash. We'll be up shortly."

"Dom, leave it alone, I'll tell you when I think you can handle it." Ashlynn said calmly.

"What can't I handle Ash?" Dom asked, his temper starting up again.

"I'll tell you later."

"No, you'll tell me now."

"Dom, leave it alone."

"Tell me Ash."

Ashlynn looked at Dom, a glare on her face. "No, Dom, I'll tell you when I think you can handle it. And right now, I don't think you can handle it. So let Jesse go upstairs with me."

Jesse, who had been watching the whole exchange quietly, glanced back and forth between the two, wondering what was going to happen. He knew Dom was stubborn and hardly ever gave up, but he could also tell that Ashlynn was the same way with how she'd been talking to Dom.

"Ashlynn, tell me, please." Dom said softly.

"Dominic, stop prying right now. I will not be the reason that you go back to Lompoc." Ashlynn said, the glare fading from her face.

"What are you talking about?"

"If I tell you about this you'll freak out, and you'll go after who it was that had a hand in it and you'll end up getting sent back. I refuse to let that happen."

"I won't go back, I promise I won't. Just tell me."

Ashlynn sighed, her cousin always was more stubborn than she was. He could always get her to talk. "Fine, but you're going to want to sit down."

"I'm fine standing."

"That's what dad said."

"Just get on with it, please."

Ashlynn looked over at Jesse, who nodded, and sighed. "Alright, but I warned you."

"Ok, I'll keep that in mind."

"Dom, I have- I have a kid."

"What are you talking about?"

"I got pregnant at fifteen and had a kid soon after I turned sixteen. He's four years old and his father ran out on us."

It was then that Dom got mad, but then after he let the information that his baby cousin had a child at sixteen sit in he passed out.

Ashlynn looked at Jesse and shrugged, "I warned him."


	2. Chapter 2

ok, so here's the second chapter. i still don't have a title for the fic, so if anyone has any ideas, they would be most appriciated. i've started school, so if i don't update for a while, i'm sorry, but you'll just have to let me organize myself to where i can get more chapters up. i'm also still writing for my Gaara story, so you'll have to be patient with me.

a reviewer brought to my attention thtathey didn't think Dom to be one to faint. yes, well, though he doesn't seem like one to faint, he did and i think that if you were in his position, you probably would have too, i know i would have. i also didn't intend for that to happen, but i needed some way to close the chapter and that seemed like a good way to do just that, so that's what i did.

anyway, on with the story. enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Fast and The Furious, I do however own Ashlynn, her son, and the plot, those you cannot take thay are mine, I'll get a copywrite if I have to, because you can't have them. :P**

Fast and the Furious 2

Ashlynn looked down at her cousin, then up at Jesse, "Think we should move him to the couch?"

"Probably." Jesse muttered.

"Alright, get his feet." Ashlynn said as she bent down and gabbed Dom under his arm and lifted him about an inch or so off the floor when Jesse grabbed Dom's ankles. Slowly they made their way to the couch and got Dom on the couch with very few mishaps.

"Hm," Ashlynn muttered as she looked at Dom again. "What do think, should we stay down here or go up stairs?"

Jesse and Ashlynn looked at each other. "Go up stairs." They said simultaneously.

With that said, the two of them went back up stairs where they almost literally ran into Letty.

"Whoa, what were you two doing down there?" She asked, eyeing them both.

"Nothing actually, all we did was talk." Ashlynn said.

"And I should believe this because…" She asked as she trailed off.

"Well, you could ask Dom, he came down and we were talking." Jesse said.

"So, where's Dom?" Letty asked, not having seen him come up from the basement.

Jesse and Ashlynn looked at each other.

"About that." Ashlynn said with a sheepish smile. "He..uh, well, he kinda, sorta-"

"He passed out." Jesse said, cutting Ashlynn off.

"Passed out, what do you mean he passed out, he's had hardly anything to drink." Letty said looking between the two.

"Well, he fainted. I told him something that he really wasn't ready to hear and he fainted." Ashlynn said with another sheepish smile.

"So, where's he at now?"

"He's in the basement on one of the couches." Jesse told her.

"So, now you know where he is and we're gonna go get a couple more beers." Ashlynn said, pulling Jesse off towards the fridge.

For the next few hours the party started to wind down and people were leaving. Jesse and Ashlynn talked and drank and, at two in the morning, she showed Jesse the engine of her Viper. She listened as he went on and on about everything, she found it amusing how before he was all twitching and not sitting still and now he was calm as could be as he looked at her car. Ashlynn grabbed her bag out of the car and walked back to the engine, still listening to Jesse, when she saw Dom in the doorway of the house.

"Shit." She muttered, causing Jesse to look up at her.

"What?" He asked as he straightened up and turned. "Oh."

"Yeah. Come on, best get this over with now." She said as she closed the hood of her car.

The two of them made their way up the lawn and onto the porch; all the while Dom was watching them like a hawk.

"Inside." Was all he said.

Ashlynn rolled her eyes and walked through the door, followed by Jesse and Dom walked in after them and closed the door. Ashlynn sighed as she saw everyone else sitting in the living room, Vince and Leon were close to passing out, Letty was still drinking so she wasn't as bad as the other two and Mia was sober with Brian sitting next to her drinking a beer.

"What are we all sitting here for?" Vince asked, his words so slurred together it was hard to understand him.

Letty rolled her eyes and looked at Ashlynn. "He woke up an hour and a half after you left. I could only keep him from bothering you for so long."

"I appreciate it." Ashlynn said as she sat down on the floor next to the couch where Jesse had taken the last seat.

Dom remained standing, looking down at Ashlynn where she sat, not saying anything. Ashlynn looked up at him, a glare on her face.

"What?" She snapped.

"What do you mean what? How did it happen?" He asked.

Ashlynn laughed, "How did it happen? I was sure you knew the answer as to how it happened."

"How what happened?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, Ash, what's he going on about?" Letty asked.

"He's going on about what made him faint." Ashlynn said as she glared at Dom.

"Tell them Ash." Dom said as he watched her.

"What is your problem with this? Is it so wrong that it happened?"

"At sixteen? It shouldn't happen that soon."

"Which part shouldn't happen, the equation or the product?" Ashlynn asked with a smirk. "Because if you're trying to tell me that equation shouldn't happen at sixteen, then you're being hypocritical."

"Ashlynn, this is serious!" Dom snapped.

"I know it is, but I don't understand your problem with it. It's a risk that was taken, even with the precautions, it's still a risk." Ashlynn snapped back. "What do you want me to do? Say I'm sorry that it happened? 'Cause I'm not."

The others were watching with apprehension, Letty and Mia looked at each other and then back at Dom and Ashlynn.

"Ash, what's going on?" Mia asked as she looked between her brother and her cousin.

Ashlynn looked over at Mia and went to say something but saw the look on Letty's face. "Figure it out Letty?" She asked.

Letty looked at her with slightly widened eyes. "You had a kid." She said softly.

"Yup." Ashlynn said as she looked back to Dom. "Happy now? They know."

Vince looked over at Ashlynn, watching as she sat there staring at Dom. "At sixteen Ash?"

Ashlynn looked over at Vince. "Still sober enough to understand what's going on, huh?"

"Answer the question Ash." He said softly.

She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, at sixteen V, are you going to freak out on me too?" She asked sadly.

"Nah, I'm not going to freak out." He said, his voice still soft as he motioned for him to come over to him.

Ashlynn complied, leaving her bag on the floor as she stood up and walked over to him. Vince pulled her down to sit on his lap and held her as she curled against him. Letty watched Ashlynn as she seemed to break and looked at Dom with a glare. Dom looked back at her with a 'what?' look. Letty pointed to Ashlynn as she continued to glare at Dom and he sighed. This was one time where he was wrong and shouldn't have flipped out. And now he had to apologize.

"Hey, where's Ash staying?" Mia asked, looking at Dom.

"Well, Letty's room is empty right now, so she could stay there." Dom said.

Vince looked down at the girl in question and she seemed to have fallen asleep. He went to get up when Dom stopped him and gently took the sleeping girl from him.

"Jesse, bring her bag." Dom said quietly as he began ascending the stairs.

As they got to the second landing, Ashlynn stirred. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going to put you in Letty's old room." Dom replied. "Don't worry about anything, alright?"

Ashlynn just nodded, not really wanting to say anything. As they reached the room, Dom carefully opened the door and walked in, Jesse behind him with Ashlynn's bag. Dom set her down on the bed and turned to Jesse.

"Just leave it on the floor." He said softly as he went to walk back to the door.

Jesse did as he said and put the bag down and left.

"Dom?" Ashlynn called softly to him as he reached the door.

"What is it?" He asked just as softly.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" She asked.

Even in the dark, Dom could see that she was trying not to cry. He knew that if he was mad at her, she'd be upset for a long time. He didn't know why she was that way, because if Mia were to get mad at her, it wouldn't bother her, but if he were to get mad, it'd probably kill her.

"No, I'm not mad at you." He said as he walked over and sat down next to her.

"Really?"

"Really Baby Girl, I could never be mad at you."

"Sure seemed like it earlier."

"I know and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act like that and I really shouldn't have acted like that."

Ashlynn smiled sleepily as she sat up and hugged him. "You're a big softie, you know that?"

"Just don't tell anyone." He said as he hugged her back.

"Just so you know, I think that they're already aware of that fact." Ashlynn said as they parted and she laid back down.

Dom chuckled as he stood up. "Get some sleep Baby Girl." He said as he kissed her forehead.

"I will Big Brother." She mumbled as she fell asleep.

As Dom walked out of the room he found Letty leaning against the wall, waiting for him.

"So?" She asked, looking at him from behind some of her loose hair.

"Everything has been cleared up." He said softly.

"Good, come on, let's go to bed." Letty said softly as she grabbed Dom's hand and going down the hallway towards Dom's room.

As everyone settled in for sleep, no one seemed to notice that Ashlynn was moving around listlessly in her sleep. This would happen every now and then, she'd have nightmares when she was in an environment she didn't recognize. Though it's strange, one would think that she knew she was safe in this house, Dom and Vince and Letty were there to protect her, but she felt as though she were in danger and her subconscious was showing her all the things that could go wrong. As she tossed and turned she ended up moving herself up towards the headboard and hit her head causing her to wake up. She sat up in bed and looked around, making sure that nothing was there to hurt her, and sighed. She looked around the room, barely able to see anything with the light from the moon; none of this was hers, nothing in this house was. Maybe that's what was causing her to be this way, maybe not, but she couldn't be sure. She looked at the clock that was sitting on the nightstand; it was almost four in the morning. At this rate, she'd never get any sleep. Maybe she should just get up and read or something.

She sighed and got out of the bed and looked down at herself, noticing that she was still dressed in the clothes she'd worn yesterday, and walked over to her bag to get a change of clothes. She grabbed a pair of her pinstriped Daisy Duke styled jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt with chains on the forearms of the sleeves that would probably cover her shorts after she changed. She walked back to the bed and sat down to remove her boots, after completing that task, she changed out of her pants into the shorts and began unlacing the corset she wore. After she had loosened up the corset enough for her to pull it off over her head, she did so and pulled on her long sleeved t-shirt, and then folded up the clothes she'd been wearing and placed them in a pile on the floor near the foot of the bed with her boots next to them.

Ashlynn sighed again and laid down on the bed again to try and get some more sleep. As she laid there on the bed, she found herself rolling over and over, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. She rolled over once more and looked at the clock and saw that it was now five fifteen in the morning and glared at the wall as she sat up. Getting to sleep would be impossible she decided as she got out of bed and quietly walked down the stairs, trying not to wake anyone else up. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a banana as she hopped up on the counter. She peeled the banana and went to take a bite out of it when she saw Jesse coming into the kitchen. Jesse didn't seem to notice her, because when he looked up and saw her on the counter he jumped, placing a hand over his heart as though to calm it down as he did.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Ashlynn said softly.

"No, it's alright, I should have been paying more attention." Jesse said just as softly.

"I didn't wake you, did I? If I did, I'm sorry about that too."

"No, I always get up early. I'm normally the first one up."

"Why is that?"

"I have that disorder, that attention one. A-"

"A.D.D.?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"I see, so that's why you're all jittery."

Jesse looked at her questioningly.

"You were all jittery this morning and then when I showed you my car you were…calm, relaxed, I suppose." Ashlynn explained.

"Oh."

"Why is that?"

"Something about cars calms me down."

"Haha, I suppose that's a good thing. It would suck if you were all jittery while working on a car. Probably screw something up."

Jesse gave a small smile. "Yeah, that would be bad."

Ashlynn smiled before she ate some of her banana, watching as Jesse went to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

"You're having a beer? At nearly six o'clock in the morning?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Che, it's not the best thing to have first thing in the morning."

"Oh? And what is?"

"Well, maybe a cup of coffee or breakfast, something healthy for six o'clock in the morning."

"And what do you propose?"

"Well, I was thinking about making coffee, maybe some eggs, bacon, possibly some pancakes or waffles."

Ashlynn looked over at Jesse as she finished the banana and saw his eyes were a bit wide. "What?"

"You plan on making all of that?"

"Uh, yeah, I was planning on it."

"You're going to make enough for everyone?"

"There's eight people in the house, that's nothing compared to some of the events that I've cooked for in the past."

"And where are you going to get everything to make this breakfast?"

"What time do stores open around here?"

"Six thirty or seven, why?"

"Cause you and I are going shopping."

"How did I get roped into this?"

"What do you think Dom's reaction would be if something was to happen to me and you knew where I was going?"

Jesse stared at her. "Point taken. When do we leave?"

"Are you decent enough to go to the store now?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Then we go now."

"Aren't you going to change?"

"I changed two hours ago and I'm comfortable in what I'm wearing."

"Ok, we'll go now then."

Ashlynn smiled as she hoped down off the counter and quickly went upstairs to grab her car keys and quickly came back down to find Jesse still in the kitchen.

"Ok, come on." She said softly before she headed out the back door.

Jesse was quick to follow her, quietly shutting the door after himself, and out to her car. As soon as he got in, Ashlynn turned the key in the ignition and they sped off away from the house.

"What time does everybody else get up, usually?" Ashlynn asked.

"Nine or ten, just depends."

"And what the hell do you do for those four or five hours?"

"Designs, schematics, whatever I can to keep from being bored."

Ashlynn looked over at Jesse like he was insane. "I'd go crazy with nothing to do for that long."

Jesse just shrugged, watching as Ashlynn turned her attention back to the road as they came up to the store they'd decided to go to.

"I manage." He muttered as Ash parked and cut the engine.

"To each his own I suppose." She said as she removed her seatbelt and got out of the car.

Jesse said nothing as he followed after her into the store, hearing a beep signaling that the car was locked and armed. It was six forty-five, they were lucky that this store was open early. They went through the store getting a multitude of the food that they needed and were at the check out in about forty minutes. It took ten minutes to get through the check out and they were out of the parking lot five minutes later. When they got back to the house it was nearing eight o'clock and Ashlynn set to work to get everything ready.

It was just before nine when she finished and Jesse helped her set the food on the table. There were scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, biscuits, pancakes, crepes, jam, butter, syrup, orange juice and milk on the table when they were finished. The two of them quickly cleaned up the few pans that were used to make everything and grabbed glasses for everyone to set on the table. It was a few minutes later that they heard someone moving around upstairs. Ashlynn smiled as she walked into the living room and walked up the stairs to see Leon coming out of his room.

"Morning!" She said with a grin.

"How can you be so hyper?" He asked, his head pounding as he looked at the girl he'd just met last night.

"I don't know actually, I'm not normally a morning person, but I suppose someone has to be up to wake the rest of you up."

Leon tried to glare at the girl, but the pounding of his head made it near impossible.

"You might wanna go downstairs now."

"Why?"

"Don't ask, just do."

"Whatever."

Leon followed her instructions and went downstairs and into the kitchen and Ashlynn heard him say 'holy shit, that's a lot of food.' Ashlynn smiled as she turned her attention back to what she'd come up here for.

She walked down the hall towards Mia's, Dom's, and Vince's rooms and grinned.

"IT'S TIME TO GET UP!! UP, UP, UP! BREAKFAST IS READY!!" She yelled. She heard two bodies hit the floor and started laughing. Vince's bedroom door opened and he stuck his head out to glare at her, but much like Leon's glare, it didn't work well. Ashlynn grinned and waved to him.

"Better run Baby Girl." He growled, wincing at the volume of his voice.

"You've got a hangover and you're threatening me, that's not very smart. I think that you're going to end up hurting yourself, not me." Ashlynn said with another grin.

"Baby Girl?" Came Dom's voice.

"Yes, Dom?" She asked.

"What in the hell are you yelling for?"

"Breakfast is ready and it's getting cold. I've been up since four in the morning, I made breakfast and I refuse to let you guys let it go to waste just because ya'll drank yourselves stupid and are hung over this morning." Ashlynn explained.

"You couldn't have woken us up any other way?" Dom asked.

"Yeah Baby Girl, you coulda been more nice about it." Vince said.

"Would you guys have gotten up otherwise?" Ashlynn countered.

"She's got you guys there." Letty's voice sounded behind Dom.

"See, she knows what I'm talking about." Ashlynn said. "Anyway, Letty, make sure Mia's up. I have to make sure Leon isn't eating all of the food I made."

Ashlynn made her way back downstairs and into the kitchen, Jesse and Leon were sitting at the table, waiting for the others so they could start eating. Vince and Dom soon made their way into the kitchen, their eyes going slightly wide at the sight of all the food before they sat down. It wasn't too much later that Letty came down, followed by a red-faced Mia and Brian and they too sat down at the table. Upon seeing Brian, Vince went to get up, but a glare from Ashlynn kept him sitting and keeping his mouth shut, though the glare on his face didn't disappear at all.

Once they were all seated, grace was said and they all began grabbing food and piling it on their plates. As they ate, there was a bit of talking and as they finished, Ashlynn collected all of the dishes and placed them in the sink and began washing them. She heard the others get up and go about their business in getting ready for work at the garage. Dom walked back into the kitchen as Ashlynn finished up washing the dishes.

"Hey Baby Girl, I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it?" She asked, turning around to look at him as she pulled her sleeves back down.

"I need you to-" He began, but cut off when he saw what she was wearing. "What are you wearing?"

"Shorts and a t-shirt, now what do you need me to do?"

"We're talking about your clothes later." He said. "I need you to take Brian back to his place and then come to the shop."

"Why am I taking Brian to his place?" Ashlynn asked.

"Because Vince is the only other one who can right now and he doesn't like Brian."

"Ok, whatever you need. I'll do it."

"Thank you Ash." He said kissing her forehead. "We're still talking about your clothes later."

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered as Dom turned around and left.


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, so, here's chapter three and I know that it's been a while since I've updated anything, but I'm trying to make up for it.. promise.. i think this is my longest chapter.. anyways...

**DISCLAIMER: I ONLY OWN ASHLYNN AND WHATEVER OTHER ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, VENUS AND SILVER BELONG TO FRIENDS OF MINE, BEWARE WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU USE THESE CHARACTERS WITHOUT PERMISSION...**

Anyway, without further adieu here's chapter 3..

Fast and the Furious 3

Ashlynn sighed as she walked out to her car with Brian following behind her. Both of them were silent as they got in the car and took off away from the house.

"So, where are we going?" She asked him.

"Racer's Edge," He said, not looking at her.

"So, what does Dom want from you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't race for shit, but yet you were in a race against Dom, what did you use to bribe your way in?"

"I raced him for my car."

"You mean that blown up Eclipse?"

"Yeah, that would be the one."

"Ok, so since it's blown up, what does he want from you?"

"He says I owe him a ten second car."

"He owns you now, you know that right?"

"What do you mean?"

Ashlynn laughed. "You owe him a ten second car, and something tells me that you don't have the type of money to buy a new car, so you're going to have to find some other way to fix up a car. And, since you don't look like you have the money to buy a new car, I'm going to assume that you don't have the money to fix up a not so new car and you're going to have to use Dom's connections to be able to fix it up. He owns you."

Brian looked at her weird. "If you say so."

"I do say so." Ashlynn said as they pulled up to the Racer's Edge.

"Ok then, see you at the garage then."

"You better have something good."

"I will, I will."

"Sure you will."

Ashlynn didn't give him time to reply as she sped off to the garage. Twenty minutes later Ashlynn arrived at the garage and walked in to see Mia working the counter and no one else in sight.

"Hey Mia," She greeted.

"Hey Ash," She said with a smile. "They're in the garage."

"Yeah, I figured, thanks though." Ashlynn said as she made her way to the garage where she saw the others all bent over working on different cars. She silently walked over to Jesse and stood beside him, watching as he worked, not bothering to give him any indication of her presence. It was about ten minutes later that he noticed her and he freaked out, hitting his head on the hood of the car.

"Holy shit!" He yelled, causing the others to all jump and let out various curses as Ashlynn laughed.

"Ah, you… should….have seen… the…the look….on your face!" Ashlynn said, her face turning red from all the laughing as she doubled over.

"That was not funny." Jesse said indignantly.

"Oh, but…but it was."

"Whatever."

Jesse went back to working on the car, ignoring the others as they all chuckled and laughed at him.

"Ash, come on, leave the kid alone." Dom said as he waved her into his office.

Ashlynn smiled as her laughter subsided and walked into Dom's office.

"So, what's up?" She asked as she sat in one of the chairs in front of Dom's desk.

"First, what's with the clothes?" Dom asked leaning against his desk in front of her.

"It was hot this morning when I woke up at four in the freaking morning."

"It was hot and you put on a long sleeved shirt?"

"Ok, so my legs were hot and my arms were cold, I figured I'd put the shorts on under because it would be modest."

"I don't like it."

"Well you don't have to; you're not the one wearing it."

"Whatever. Second, what's with you and the kid?"

"Jesse?"

"Yes, Jesse."

"I like him, so what?"

"You like him?"

"That's what I said."

"Don't get smart with me, Ash."

"Look, I like him; I haven't liked anyone since I had my son. Be a little happy for me, please."

Dom looked down at Ashlynn and was about to say something when Brian pulled up with a destroyed car on the back of a flatbed trailer. Ashlynn rolled her eyes as she and Dom walked out of the office.

"Boy, you said you would have something good." Ashlynn said as she walked up next to Jesse to look at the car.

"I said you owed me a ten second car, not a ten minute car." Dom said with a half grin on his face.

"You could always tow it across the finish line." Jesse said, turning back to look at Brian and Dom.

"You couldn't even tow that thing over the finish line." Letty said, putting in her two cents from where she was leaning against another car.

Ashlynn zoned out on the conversation as she shook her head at the beat up Supra that Brian had brought in. She vaguely heard Mia tell Brian that Dom owned him now and she turned around and smiled.

"Told you so blonde."

"Yeah, yeah."

Ashlynn watched as everyone went back to work, looking in at some of the engines every now and then, speaking when she felt it was needed. At about lunch time the guys and Letty all took a break.

"So, Ash, how long are you staying?" Vince asked.

"Only a few days, I have to get back to my son." Ashlynn replied.

"Why didn't you bring him?"

"Did you not see me race last night? Did you not see the reaction I got when I told Dom I had a kid?"

"I apologized for that." Dom said.

"I know and I appreciate it."

"That's a good point though." Vince said.

"Anyway, I have to get back to him. Maybe after Race Wars you guys can all come up and see him." Ashlynn said as she smiled at the team.

"Sounds like a plan, Baby Girl." Dom said as he grinned back at her.

"Cool."

Later, after closing time, the team was all back at the house and they were getting ready for dinner; Dom was grilling chicken and Letty was nearby, Jesse, Mia, Brian, and Ashlynn were in the house getting refreshments and the salads and utensils and the like. Leon and Vince just pulled up with more beer and other groceries just as the four walked out of the house. Vince saw Brian and got pissed; he handed his bags off to Leon and turned back towards his car.

"Vince, where are you going? Get back here and help." Dom called.

"Looks like you got all the help you need brother." Vince called back as he opened his car door.

Ashlynn sighed as she quickly set the things she was carrying down on the table and run up to Vince. She jumped on his back, keeping him from getting in his car.

"Vinny!" She whined. "Come on, don't go."

"I can't deal with this," He growled. "Get down, Ash."

"No," Ashlynn growled back. "You will not keep running away from things that piss you off. And don't growl at me."

"Get down Ash," Vince said as calmly as he could, his voice shook with the contained anger.

"Fine, run away," Ashlynn said as she jumped down off his back. "Be a coward." She hissed, punching him in the arm before she turned and ran back to the table.

"He'll be back," Leon said. "He can't do anything on an empty stomach."

"Yeah, whatever," Ashlynn muttered under her breath as she helped set the table.

Just as predicted, Vince came back soon after they started eating, and Dom told him to sit his ass down; Ashlynn however, didn't even look at him.

That night Ashlynn laid in the bed in Letty's old room and stared at the ceiling, unable to get to sleep. She had to wonder if it was the fact that it wasn't the room she used as a child, or maybe it was the fact that she was used to laying next to her son as he fell asleep so as to know that he was safe, and sighed softly to herself. She got up out of bed and paced for a few minutes before walking out of the room and downstairs into the kitchen.

"Something wrong," Someone asked her.

"Can't get to sleep," She said softly, looking over to see Dom sitting at the table with a beer. "What are you doing down here?"

"I sort of made Letty mad." He said with a ghost of a smile.

"You're a master at that, aren't you?"

"Maybe, what's it to you?"

"Nothing, I just find it funny is all."

"Anyway, so why can't you sleep Baby Girl?"

"I don't know, it could be that it's not the same room I used when we were younger or it could be that I'm not used to being away from my son for so long; separation anxiety maybe."

"I see, that's interesting."

"To you it is, but I'd really like some sleep."

"You're old room is still there."

"Yeah, but someone else is using it." Ashlynn smiled as she took a sip of Dom's beer.

"So, I'm sure that Jesse wouldn't mind sharing."

Ashlynn nearly choked on the beer as she heard what Dom said. "Whoa, first you were against me and Jesse and now you're trying to set me up, what the hell. Make up your freaking mind."

Dom just grinned. "You know where you're room is at." He took his beer and made his way upstairs, leaving Ashlynn to think about what he'd said.

"Ass," She muttered as she sat there thinking. It was thirty minutes later that Ashlynn sighed and made her way back up the stairs, she paused outside the door of her old room, debating as to whether she should enter or not. Sighing, she told herself, "He's just a boy," and walked into the room quietly. She looked around the room, noticing that there were pictures, upon pictures, upon pictures on the walls before going over to the bed.

Jesse started as Ashlynn barely touched his arm, scaring her in the process before he spoke. "What's up?" He asked tiredly.

"Nothing, just got some nightmares keeping me up, would it be alright if I crashed here with you?" Ashlynn said softly.

"Huh? Yeah, sure." He mumbled as he shifted over a bit to allow her to lay down next to him.

Ashlynn smiled as she slid under the blanket next to Jesse, curling up against him. "Thanks Jess." She said softly, kissing his cheek.

"Uh-huh," He managed to mumble as he draped an arm over her protectively, falling back to sleep.

Ashlynn sighed softly, finding herself exceedingly tired considering she'd not been able to sleep last night, and found herself falling asleep almost instantly.

When Ashlynn woke, she heard snickers coming from behind her and groaned. She turned her head and found that Leon and Vince were standing just inside the room, laughing softly at her and Jesse; who was still asleep. She paid no attention to Vince and flipped Leon off and then turned back towards Jesse.

"Go away." She muttered. "You can poke fun at me later Leon, I'm trying to sleep right now."

"Come on Baby Girl, it's time to get up." Vince said, trying to get her to talk to him.

Ashlynn paid him no mind as she snuggled closer to Jesse, intent on getting back to sleep as she was still in a state of grogginess. She vaguely heard Leon convince Vince to leave and she fell back to sleep. The next time she woke, it was to Jesse's voice.

"Ashlynn… Ash, come on, it's time to get up." He said softly.

"Time is it?" She asked groggily.

"It's after noon."

"I don't want to get up, I'm still tired and I'm comfortable."

"No, it's time to get up, the team left already, they're at the garage."

"Then what's the point in getting up?"

"Come on, let's go." Jesse said, poking her in the side.

"EEP!" Ashlynn jumped, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "Don't do that!"

"What?" Jesse asked, poking her in the side again.

"That! Stop poking me!" Ashlynn exclaimed, batting away Jesse's hand.

"Why?" Jesse asked, a smirk on his face as Ashlynn glared at him.

"I'm ticklish and you know it." Ashlynn said. "And don't even think about it."

"Think about what?"

"You know what?"

"Do I?"

"Jesse, don't."

Jesse just grinned as he began tickling her, laughing as she tried to push his hands away. "Will you get up now?"

"Fine! Not like I can get back to sleep now anyway." Ashlynn sighed. "Jeez, a girl can't get any sleep at all."

"It's one thirty in the afternoon, I think that you've gotten enough sleep."

"Yeah, yeah." Ashlynn muttered as she stood from Jesse's bed and stretched. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"I'll be downstairs."

"Alright," Ashlynn said. "Thanks Jesse."

"For what?" He asked.

"For letting me sleep here last night." Ashlynn said as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Just thanks."

"Uh, sure. You're welcome."

Ashlynn smiled softly and left the room for Letty's old room, grabbed some clothes and walked into the bathroom. Ashlynn heard Jesse walking down the stairs as she got in the shower; she'd bet fifty dollars that he was going to get a beer. Twenty minutes later, Ashlynn found herself with somewhat of a dilemma; she'd forgotten a shirt. Now, this is normally not a big deal, seeing as how Letty's room was just across the hall to the left, but Jesse was still in the house and she'd rather not deal with that embarrassment. Ashlynn resolved herself and decided that she needed clothes and she needed them whether or not Jesse saw her practically naked before walking out of the bathroom and straight into Jesse who looked like he was about to knock on the door.

"Oh shit," Ashlynn muttered as Jesse just stared at her. "Hey, Jess…Jesse?"

"Huh?" He asked, not bothering to look up at her face.

"Jesse-boy, my face is up here and you're in my way," Ashlynn said, her face turning a nice shade of red as she clutched the towel tighter around her body; probably not smart, seeing as it made the towel tighten around her and give Jesse a better view.

"Huh, wha-oh…" He said, averting his eyes away from her before mumbling, "Sorry."

"I need to go get clothes," She said, hoping he'd get the message and move, but he didn't. "Excuse me." She said, a bit more firmly, her face still a shade of red as Jesse finally realized he was supposed to move.

"You know what; I'll just go back downstairs and wait for you there." He mumbled before doing just that and walking down the stairs.

Ashlynn stood awkwardly in to doorway to the bathroom before walking into Letty's room and grabbing some clothes, going back into the bathroom, getting ready and going downstairs where the atmosphere was even more awkward.

"Shall we go then?" She asked softly, not quite meeting Jesse's eye.

'What the hell is my problem,' She thought to herself. 'I slept next to him for most of the night and well into the morning and I'm feeling awkward about him seeing me in just a towel, I was practically wearing less yesterday, what is my problem?'

Jesse, unaware of her silent battle just nodded, muttering a soft "Sure," before heading to the door. Ashlynn followed after him, her mind still in slight turmoil as she got into her car and took off with Jesse following her in his car to the garage.

When they got there, the others decided they needed to be teased, which didn't make the whole situation that had happened at the house any better. They were teased for the better part of four hours when Dom deemed that they'd had enough teasing and they should be left alone for the time being.

"Thank you oh gracious one." Ashlynn muttered sarcastically when he'd called the teasing off, not that she's been paying attention to Vince who'd been saying some of the most embarrassing things; one would think it would be pretty easy to ignore Vince, and for the most part it had been, but he nearly said things that none of the others, meaning Leon, Jesse, and Brian, needed to know. Thankfully Letty had smacked him upside the head for Ashlynn without her having to say anything about it.

Three days passed by and Ashlynn was still angry at Vince; no matter what he tried to do, she had still remained pissed at him. Ashlynn was leaving today and Vince was still trying to get her to talk to him.

"Baby Girl, please, speak to me." He said as he followed her through the house.

She ignored him as she grabbed a beer from the fridge, not wanting to hear him anymore. Dom, Letty, and Leon had gone in to work on the Supra with Brian; Jesse was going to leave soon to help more with designs and schematics; and Mia was either at school, the café, or studying in her room. Vince sighed, he was ready to give up, but he knew that would make her angrier, so he took the beer from her and set it on the table and wrapped her in his arms. She struggled against his arms, trying to get away from him, but couldn't; he was still stronger than her. She continued to struggle though, she got a look from Jesse as he came into the kitchen, she just shot an annoyed look at him.

"Don't touch that beer, it's mine." Ashlynn told Jesse as he reached for the beer Vince had taken from her and put on the table.

"Why don't you just talk to him?" Jesse asked as he picked the beer up off the table. "He'd stop bugging you."

"I'm mad at him, hence why I'm not talking to him." She said as she struggled against Vince some more. "I said don't touch, it's mine."

Jesse just smiled as he began to walk away.

"Damn it! Jesse, get back here with my beer!"

"No, not until you talk to Vince."

"Ugh, fuck, fine!" Ashlynn hissed. "Vince, let me go."

"Will you talk to me?" Vince asked, unsure.

"Yes Vincent, I'll talk to you, now let me go. He took my beer."

Vince sighed as he let Ashlynn go, only to watch her take off after Jesse.

"Got you!" He heard her say after there was a thud.

"Yeah, and now I can't breathe." Jesse said.

Vince walked into the living room and smirked at the sight of Ashlynn sitting on Jesse's stomach, beer in her hand. Vince laughed as he watch Ashlynn lean down and get in Jesse's face; the boy looked flustered.

"You shouldn't have taken my beer." She said with a smile before she kissed his cheek. "I wouldn't be crushing your lungs then."

"Ok, ok, I get it," Jesse muttered. "I shouldn't have taken your beer, now please get off my lungs; I'd like to breathe again."

"I'm not that heavy you big baby." Ashlynn muttered as she got up off of him.

"Keep telling yourself that," Jesse muttered playfully, jumping up off the floor before she could pin him down again.

"Did you just call me fat?" She asked in mock incredulity.

"No, it's all though muscles you have," He said with a grin before he darted out the from door, leaving Ashlynn alone with Vince.


	4. Chapter 4

So, I haven't updated since 8-24-09.. I'm quite sorry, took me a while to get this one out, didn't it?

Anyways, this chapter is a couple hundred words shorter than the last three.. Creativity just wasn't flowing very much; it was like a tiny trickle, so this is what I've got...

I think it may be moving a little fast, but maybe it's just me and I'm just being picky picky.

**DISCLAIMER: I only own Ashlynn, her son, and the plot line; Ashlynn's friends belong to my two friends. If you read my Naruto story they're also in that story, but for now, that's besides the point.**

Anyways.. Here is Chapter 4.. Review and let me know what you think.**  
**

Fast and The Furious 4

Ashlynn growled after Jesse before twisting off the beer cap and taking a sip, nearly choking on it out of surprise when Vince laid a hand on her shoulder. She hadn't heard him walk up behind her.

"Shit Vince! Don't do that!" She snapped, turning around to look at him.

"Are you going to talk to me now?" He asked.

"No, I'm going to walk out that door and drive to the shop with a beer in my hand," Ashlynn said sarcastically before going to sit on the couch. "Yes I'm going to talk to you."

"Hey, don't get sarcastic with me. You would have done it, I know you would have." Vince said as he sat next to her.

"I would not. I'm the cousin of Dominic Toretto, I'm sure that cops are waiting for me to fuck up." She muttered softly, a thoughtful look on her face as she took another sip from her beer. "Too late for that, I fucked up four years ago."

Vince looked at her, watching her for a few seconds, trying to figure out what was going on in her head. "You didn't fuck up. Everyone makes mistakes. And that was one of yours. You're probably going to make many more mistakes to, but that's ok."

Ashlynn looked up at Vince and sighed softly, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right, just like I made the mistake of being a coward the other day and ran away." He said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I know you hate that. You've always hated it when people are cowards."

"Not if they have good reason to be." Ashlynn countered, taking another sip from her beer. "Like, if someone were to run for their life, I wouldn't think they were being cowardly, I would think they were being smart. Stupid for whatever they got themselves into, but not cowardly."

Vince chuckled and smiled at her. "You're weird, you know that?"

"Yeah, and? What's your point?" Another sip was taken as Ashlynn raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing Baby Girl, nothing." Vince said, ruffling some of her hair.

"Yeah, sure." Eyes rolled as Ashlynn tried to flatten her hair out, not that it was flat before.

"So we good now?" Hope ran clear in Vince's voice as he asked.

Slightly amused, Ashlynn couldn't help but to forgive him with a grin on her face. "Yeah Vinny, we're good."

"You know I hate that name."

"Yeah, but I'm still gonna call you by it. Childhood nicknames stick."

Vince rolled his eyes and took the beer from Ashlynn, "You shouldn't drink before you have to drive. It's bad."

"Che, I was gonna make you drive me to the garage." Ashlynn said taking her beer back and downing most of what was left in the bottle.

"Damn girl, this might be creepy, but I am not going to lie; that was hot."

Ashlynn rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Let's go." She announced before finishing off the beer and standing up, brushing imaginary dust from her pants, leaving the bottle amongst others on the coffee table. Vince stood up and followed Ashlynn out to his car and headed off to the garage.

Arriving at the garage, Ashlynn smiled at Mia and headed through the store to the garage and walked over to see what Jesse was doing. She smiled when she saw that he and Brian were talking about schematics for the currently decimated Supra that they were fixing up for Brian to race at Race Wars.

"Man, you should be going to MIT or something," Ashlynn heard Brian say as she walked up.

"Yeah, right.." Jesse said, flicking off the ashes from the cigarette he was smoking, before waving said cigarette around as he continued speaking. "I got that.. Oh, what's it called? That attention disorder…" Jesse trailed off.

"A.D.D." Brian and Ashlynn said simultaneously as she walked up and leaned against the desk the two were at.

"Yes, that shit." Jesse confirmed as he flicked off more ashes from his cigarette. "I always had a problem… Like math, shit.. Everything else, I failed. Dropped out of school. I-I dunno.. It's just something about engines that calms me down."

Ashlynn smiled, listening to them continue talking about the car and what could be done with it. Sometime during the conversation, Ashlynn stole Jesse's cigarette and took a long drag off of it before handing it back to him.

"I didn't know you smoke," Jesse said, slightly surprised.

"That would be because I don't smoke unless I'm drinking or have had a drink." Ashlynn said matter-of-factly, a small smile on her face. "I don't smoke around my son, so therefore, the only time I smoke is if I'm out.. And even then, it's something I rarely do."

"Oh, well, that's good, I heard they're bad for you, could kill you in the long run." Jesse said, a cheeky grin on his face, to which Ashlynn couldn't help but return to him before he and Brian continued their conversation. That's how the day continued in the shop, sometimes she'd be called out to help Letty or the others, but it was pretty laid back.

After closing shop an our early due to the lack of incoming work, Ashlynn rode back to the house with Jesse, and she was surprised to find a lot of people at the house.

"The hell is going on?" She mumbled curiously as she got out of the car.

"It's a sort of going away party." Jesse said with a smile.

"Dom was just looking for an excuse to party." She said, knowing she knew hardly anyone.

"Yeah, pretty much." Jesse said with a smile.

Ashlynn smiled at Jesse as they walked up to the house after the others. She was surprised to see Hector at the barbeque with various types of meat on it; the group of girls that surrounded him, not so much a surprise. Ashlynn smiled, saying goodbye to and wishing Mia luck on her date with Brian before she went to mingle and get lost in the crowd of people that were there. She stuck around for another two hours before announcing to the team that she had to go, otherwise her friends were going to worry.

"You're sure you can't stay another night?" Letty asked, hoping the younger girl could. "Because no offence to Mia, but she just doesn't have the attitude I need to be around; she's just a little too girly."

"Nah, I have to get back. My son needs me. I do know what mean about Mia though.. Sometimes I have to wonder how it is that we're related, but she took after her mother, so it's understandable," Ashlynn said with a smile as she hugged Letty. "I expect you all to visit after Race Wars."

"Speaking of your son, what's his name?" Dom asked with a small smile, he had to admit, he was curious.

"His full name is Luciano Seraphim Toretto, I decided a full Italian name would be good for him." Ashlynn replied after letting go of Letty. "He asks about family we have because he doesn't have a father, and he only knows my two friends really; they're his aunties. So says him."

"He'll know his family soon." Dom said, hugging Ashlynn, lifting her off the ground in the process.

"He better, he's getting impatient.. I think that would be from me.. though, he could get it from one of his aunties." Ashlynn said, hugging back before she was set on the ground and she turned to Vincent. "And you, stop running away from your problems." She said as she hugged him.

"I'll work on it," He told her with a smile. "It'll be a work in progress."

"Good, I expect it to be better the next time I see you." She said, turning to Leon and hugged him. "Nice to have met you; it's always good for there to be additions to the family."

"It was nice to have met you too," Leon said, returning her hug.

Ashlynn smiled as she let go of Leon and turned to Jesse, noticing that the others started walking off to give them privacy. "Hey, Dom, don't go too far, I have sometimes I need to let you know." Dom just nodded to let her know that he heard her and she turned back to Jesse. She smiled again and didn't know what to say to the boy in front of her, so she just hugged him.

"You act like you're never gonna see me again," Jesse said softly.

"You never know," Ashlynn said, pulling back enough to look at his face, her arms still around his shoulders. "I mean, I know that I told you guys that you have to come up and visit after Race Wars 'cause I beat Dom with luck, but things happen and-" Ashlynn squeaked softly as she felt Jesse's lips on hers, effectively cutting her off.

"Sorry, you were, uh, rambling.." Jesse mumbled in a slightly shy manner. "You were going on and on like I do when I can't relax… But I think I found something other than engine that relaxes me."

"I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing… I'm going to bet it's a good thing," Ashlynn muttered softly with a light blush on her face before pressing her lips against Jesse's to keep him from replying. She blushed slightly darker as she pulled away, hearing the wolf whistles and cat calls coming from some of the guys at the party; including Leon and Vince. "I've only known you three days, and it feels like forever." She said softly before pulling a phone out of her pocket. "This is one of my old phones, the only number currently programmed into it is my new number; my address is in the contact info and there's GPS navigation on the phone, but it's somewhat spotty. Call me if and when you feel like it; and if you need anything, my house is always open."

Jesse smiled at Ashlynn and took the phone and put it in his pocket before kissing her again, firmer and longer this time. "I'll see you soon," Jesse said softly, pulling away. "Race Wars isn't too far away and then we'll all be up for a visit."

"Good," Ashlynn said softly. "I gotta talk to Dom really quick and then leave before it gets too late."

"Alright, go talk to him, I'll see you after Race Wars." Jesse told her, stepping away from her.

"Bye Jesse, see you later," Ashlynn said before walking over to Dom.

"So, what's this you need to talk to me about?" Dom asked, his eyes glancing over to Jesse who walked over to a cooler and grabbed a beer.

"No, not about Jesse," Ashlynn paused. "About Brian. And I doubt you're going to like it, but you need to keep calm. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," Dom said after slight hesitance.

"I think he's a cop, Dom. I think he's an undercover cop." Ashlynn said softly, gauging Dom for a reaction. She watched as he tensed up severely, his knuckles white as he gripped his beer bottle, she was surprised it didn't shatter. "Relax Dom, you're going to break the bottle."

"Relax?" Dom hissed angrily. "A cop? You're hunches were never wrong when we were kids. He could be a cop and he's out on a date with my sister. He's probably using her t-"

"No Dom," Ashlynn said, cutting him off. "No, he's not using Mia, he likes her; he legitimately likes her. I can tell."

"How?" How do you know?"

"Because he looks at Mia like you look at Letty."

Dom relaxed slightly, but pinned Ashlynn with a stare that would probably make most people piss themselves. "What do you mean, Baby Girl? Like she's a good lay?"

Ashlynn snorted, "Hell no, Big Brother-"

"Then I don't know what you're talking about." Dom said, trying to pretend as if he didn't know what she was talking about; trying to deny what she was saying.

"Don't let Letty hear you say that," Ashlynn said with a smile. "I know that you fool everyone else, hell, sometimes you even fool Letty, but I know.. I know you and I know that you love her. You might not be able to tell her, but I know you do; I know that the flirting with the racer chaser skanks are just a way to make Letty jealous, because you like that fire in her and you like to make it flare. Sooner or later, you're going to have to actually tell her; or if you have told her, you'll need to tell her again."

"What's your point, Baby Girl?" Dom asked, downing half of the beer in his hand.

"Point is, is that Brian loves Mia and she likes him, possibly even loves him back.. I'm not saying don't keep an eye on him, just give him a chance… Something is going to happen to make him blow his cover, when that happens it's going to hurt Mia, and he knows it and that knowledge hurts him. He really does care…. Just give him a chance, ok? Don't let him know that you know. Alright?"

"Alright, but you better be right Baby Girl."

"I am, and he's here for a reason you know, he's looking to help catch whoever it is hijacking those big rigs.." She said with a knowing look in her eyes. "Just be careful.. Jesse's got my number and address if you need it."

"Alright, get home Baby Girl."

"Ok, bye for now Big Brother."

With that, Ashlynn walked back to her Viper and smiled when she saw Hector standing there. "What can I do for you Hector?"

"I just happened to notice that you didn't eat any of the food I made; so here's a nice chunk of what was made. Vince picked out meats that he remembered that you liked." He said, holding out two large Ziploc bags with meat in them.

"Thanks Hector." She said as she took the bags from him and holding out a piece of paper with her cell number on it. "Do me a favor; Race Wars, anything happens, call me and let me know about it."

"Checking up on them now?" Hector said with a joking smile as he took the paper.

"Something like that… I wasn't in the picture for a long time, and I missed out on a lot, and I'm not going to let that happen again." She said with a soft smile. "But anyways, I have to get home, I have things that need to get done."

"On your way then. I'll be sure to let you know what's going on."

"Thanks Hector," Ashlynn said, putting the bags of meat in the passenger seat with her bag before walking around the car with a wave to Hector and sliding into the vehicle. Buckled up, she slid the key into the ignition, started the car, and revved the engine, honking shortly before peeling out and back home.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello lovelies, I'm back and I've typed up chapter five in about three to fours hours... It would have been up earlier if I had been able to find my jump drive, but I wasn't and I had to write it all over again and I'm sure it's totally different that what I originally had planned out. But anyways...

Uhm, oh, right! There is a little bit of Italian in this chapter and before anyone asks, no, I'm not Italian and I do not speak it, I used Google Translator for it and I hope it's correct.

There is also use of Chinese in this chapter, but I couldn't actually put it in Chinese because my computer doesn't have Chinese characters in its font database and it wouldn't have uploaded right.

Now, senza ulteriore stallo, ecco il capitolo cinque.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS; JUST THE CHARACTERS THAT HAVE NO ORIGINAL PURPOSE IN THE MOVIE STORYLINE.**

Fast and The Furious 5

Not twenty minutes later as Ashlynn drove down long forgotten, but familiar streets towards the freeway, she found herself surrounded by motorcycles, much like Dom and Brian had been. Grumbling to herself, she followed them, seeing as at least two of them had guns pointed at her. When they finally got to whatever secluded area it was that they were leading her to, they motioned for her to get out of the car.

"I seriously don't have time for this," She muttered to herself as she opened the door and got out.

"I thought that everyone had time to get reacquainted with old friends." Said one of the guys as they took off their helmets.

"Ah, you must be the Johnny Tran that Dom was telling me about." Ashlynn said as she pushed some of her hair out of her face. "And people that point guns at me without just cause aren't people I'm friends with. Now, if you don't mind, I do have friends I need to be getting home to."

"~I told you it was not her.~" The one wearing snake skin pants said in Chinese, causing Ashlynn to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, dumbass," Ashlynn began, glaring at snake pants man. "~I am not her.~"

The snake pant man glared in surprise as Johnny laughed, giving the other man an 'I-told-you-it-was-her-look'.

"Yeah, I can understand you," Ashlynn said, as an after thought, she added, "Mostly. Now, what the fuck are you talking about and who the hell do you think I am?"

"I think you're Ashlynn Toretto, cousin to Dominic and Mia Toretto, old friend of mine." Johnny said with a smirk as he walked towards her as she leaned against the side of the Viper.

"So, what is this? Threaten Toretto family members week?" She asked as Johnny stood inches away from her.

"Threaten?" Johnny asked innocently. "What are you talking about?"

"Cut the crap, I know that you know I saw that Eclipse get blown sky high. Ashlynn snapped. "No way that was friendly, so what do you want?"

Johnny laughed, "You still know me too well."

"Still? What the fuck?"

"You honestly don't remember?"

"I try not to think about my past, seeing as I was ripped away from growing up with people that I knew my whole life. So, no, I don't remember or know what you're talking about."

Johnny smiled and let out a chuckle as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Ashlynn without giving her a chance to even think about it. "Just think about who you came to talk to whenever Dominic and the others wouldn't listen."

Ashlynn tensed up and stood there awkwardly as the Asian man hugged her, somehow, that seemed weird or wrong for the man to be doing. Slowly, she found herself sniffing his shirt, recognizing the familiar scent of cologne he'd used for years.

"Little Lotus," She murmured softly, bringing her arms up to return the Asian man's hug. "That's what you and your family used to call me."

"Indeed we did," Johnny said as he pulled away and looked at her. "They've been wondering where you went and why you disappeared without saying anything."

"Yeah, well, that wasn't my choice," Ashlynn muttered with a scowl before sighing. "But that's not the point. I wanted to tell you what was going on so you guys wouldn't worry, but I never had the chance."

"So what happened?"

"I'll give you the short version, I really need to be getting home." Ashlynn said softly. "Mother wanted to move, pestered Daddy into taking the job transfer up north into the mountains where 'high-society' people lived she said. Daddy finally got annoyed with all the pestering and gave in and took the job offer; I was surprised they hadn't given it so someone else by that time. So, he took the job offer, we had a week to move in before daddy had to start work for the company branch up state and within that entire week, I hardly saw anyone, didn't go to school, as I'm sure you noticed, didn't get to hang out with Dom, Letty, Mia, or Vince; I didn't get to do anything but pack up everything, which sucked.

"So, packing was finished two days before daddy started work, I was very cranky," At this, Johnny chuckled and Ashlynn smiled softly before continuing. "I wanted to say goodbye to you and your family and thank you all for your hospitality, but mother said no and that we were wasting time. I was not happy at all. I said my goodbyes to the team and then we were gone.

"We moved into the house, I got enrolled in school, I stopped wearing the white, frilly dresses mother would always buy me and eventually I burned all the clothes I didn't want and refused to wear. I started wearing all black, numerous amounts of jewelry, boots, dark make up, almost whatever would piss my mother off, I wore it. As you can see, I still do.

"Anyways, from there, I attended school, I stayed away from people, not wanting to get close, but by doing so, I attracted the two people everyone seemed to avoid. Over time, we became good friends, and I'm acquaintances with a lot of people. And six years ago, I found myself in a relationship with a nice boy; he was sweet, charming, great friend… Yeah, yeah, I know, you're not the person to talk gushy things with, but… I kind of thought he was The One, you know?" She faltered here, sighing and taking a deep breathe. "Well, I was wrong. Dead wrong in fact.. I was about fourteen and a half when we got together.. Fifteen years four months and a week old when I got knocked up.. Sixteen years and one month old when I had my baby; a beautiful baby boy… Three months later, the father ran out on us. He refused to have anything to do with me; wouldn't even acknowledge me in classes where we were partnered; you'd think that would be hard, but he made it look easy. Everyone would stare at me more often than they had before, because I had a baby with me on campus because I couldn't leave him at home, daddy had work and mother wouldn't watch him.

"I didn't let it bother me. I hadn't cared before, why now? So I just continued my life and let things take their course, my two friends stuck by me through everything, they both love my son as if he was their blood nephew and everything was fine." She said with a sigh.

"Was?" Johnny asked.

"Hmm?"

"You said everything _was_ fine, what do you mean?"

"Parents died a few months ago." She said simply.

"I'm sorry." Johnny said softly, hugging Ashlynn again.

"Yeah, so is the drunk who killed them." Ashlynn said as she returned his hug. "Anyways, now that I've finished my hour long short version of everything that's happened, I really need to get home. I haven't seen my son in four days and I'd very much like to see him."

"Alright," He said, kissing the top of her head in a brotherly manner. "I'd better see you soon."

Ashlynn smiled, "You will." Pulling out a pad of paper, Ashlynn wrote her number down and handed it to Johnny. "Call me sometime, you can meet Luciano."

Getting back in and starting the car, she rolled the window down and smiled when Johnny bent down to look at her. "It was nice seeing you again, despite the gun waving and whatnot. Tell your family I said hi and that I'm alright. I'll visit sometime."

"You better Little Lotus." He said with a half smile.

"I will Big Hydrangea." She told him with a smile. "And tell your cousin to stop wear snake skin; the don't look good on him."

Johnny laughed and ruffled Ashlynn's hair. "Get home."

Ashlynn smiled, "I'm going."

Rolling up the window, she revved the engine before putting it in gear and peeled out and off home. Just after she got on the freeway, her cell rang, causing her to roll her eyes as she answered it and put it on speaker, setting it back down on the small center console.

"Who are you and why is your number blocked?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the road, looking out for any cops that would possibly pull her over just for being related to Dom.

"Just checking to make sure you gave me your real number." Came Johnny's voice from the speaker.

"Such an idiot, of course I gave you my real number. I might be a bitch, but only to people who deserve it." She told him with a laugh.

"Too true." Johnny replied with a laugh of his own. "Alright, that's all I wanted, make sure you actually unblock my number."

"I will, promise."

"Good."

"I'll talk to you later."

"You better."

"I will."

"Good. Bye Little Lotus."

"Bye Big Hydrangea."

And with that, the line went dead and Ashlynn pushed the end call button and smiled, shaking her head slightly. The people she knew, sometimes she wasn't sure what she'd been thinking when befriending them. She had felt bad that she had forgotten him; he'd been such a big part of her life when her cousin's and friends weren't around. He and his family had helped her during those times, how could she have possibly forgotten them? She wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to again.

Smiling again, Ashlynn turned the radio on and continued her drive home, she had a few hours but that was just fine with her. The next time her phone rang, it was around ten and it was one of her friends from home.

"What?" She asked, answering the phone and putting it one speaker.

"It's polite to say hello when you answer a phone you know." The voice on the other end said.

"Yeah, well, it's you Venus, you don't call me unless something happened or you need or want something, and even in those instances you normally text me, so, what is it?"

"Wondering when you'll get here, Luciano won't go to bed until you're home."

"I'll be home in about half an hour."

"I'll let the squirt know."

"Alright, see you guys when I get there."

"Just hurry." And then the line went dead.

Ending the all on her end, Ashlynn rolled her eyes with a smile.

Thirty minutes and twelve seconds later saw Ashlynn driving up the long driveway and into the garage she'd opened with the button. She was barely out of the car when the wind was nearly knocked out of her as she was jumped on by the son.

"Mamma!" The young boy exclaimed. "You're home!"

"Yes I am," Ashlynn said calmly. "And I missed you very much."

She smiled at him as noticed how his face lit up at knowing that she'd missed him as much as he'd missed her. His steel gray eyes shined behind his thick black bangs as he bounced next to her as she pulled the bags of meat out of the car.

"Come on, inside mio figlio." She said softly, ushering him back in the house. "It's past your bed time."

"But Mamma-"

"No, no buts, it's past your bedtime, you have lessons in the morning, remember?"

Pouting, Luciano walked into his room as Ashlynn placed the bags of food on the counter in the kitchen before following her son to his room. She smiled as she found him already under the covers.

"Suvvia, non imbronciato piccolo signore." She said softly as she sat on the edge of his bed, brushing his hair out of his face. "We can talk tomorrow after your lessons."

"Sì signora." He said softly before closing his eyes.

Kissing the boy's forehead, Ashlynn smiled before getting up and leaving the room, turning off the light and closing the door behind her. Sighing softly, Ashlynn walked back out to the garage and grabbed her phone before returning to the kitchen to eat some of Hector's barbeque before it got any colder. Having not been paying attention to her surroundings, Ashlynn was startled and almost hit the ceiling with how high she jumped when her friends spoke from behind her.

"Nice to see you're back." Venus said.

"Yes, we missed you, Ash." The other girl said with a smile.

"Jeez, couldn't you two make some sort of noise, please?" She hissed. "And thank you, Silver, Venus, it's good to be back."

Ashlynn turned back to the food on the island counter in front of her as Silver and Venus walked into her line of vision. Venus was a few inches shorter than Ashlynn herself, with short, a-lined hair, almost pixie like that she was currently growing out, her eyes were a dark hazel and sometimes looked red in certain light; she was the least social out of all of them and was currently dressed in her Jack Daniels night wear. Silver was the shortest of the three of them, only coming up to Venus' shoulder, the middle of Ashlynn's upper arm, her eyes were a sliver gray color and she had long straight black hair that was pulled up in a pony tail, most often that not, it was braided; she too was in her Jack Daniels night wear. The three of them were very different from each other, but at the same time, they were all very similar; it was quite odd to say the least.

"So, how's your family?" Venus asked.

"They're good, there are two new people on the Team. Jesse and Leon; they're great guys." Ashlynn said with a fond smile.

"Oooh, Ash likes one of them." Silver said with a smile.

"Yeah, Jesse; he's really great, a lot better than Marcos. He does all the schematics and whatnot for the Team's cars." Ashlynn said softly.

"So, what all happened while you were there?" Venus asked.

"I beat Dom at the races which was broken up by the appearance of police soon after, tailed Dom who ditched his car and was picked up by Brian, who I think is an undercover cop, only to have some old _acquaintances_ of Dom's lead them somewhere and then blow Brian's Eclipse sky high; I took them back to the house where a party was going on already; Dom was pissed. He invited Brian to stay, Vince hates Brian because he and Brian both like Mia, but Mia likes Brian. I reacquainted myself with Vince, met Leon and Jesse, talked with Jesse and told him and Dom about Luciano; Dom freaked out, showed Jesse the Viper; he almost literally drooled. Dom made me tell everyone else about Luciano, went to work with everyone at the garage the next day, reminded me of the good old days. Talked with Brian a bit; Dom totally owns him because he put his pink slip up because he could buy in to the race before mine and then the car got torched.. Uhm, got pissed at Vince, was angry with him for the last three days, finally forgave him this morning before work, spent the day in the garage helping around here and there, went back to the house at five; there was a "good-bye party" for me, Dom just wanted to throw a party… Uh, I said my goodbyes, kissed Jesse and gave him my old phone with my number and the address programmed into it, told Dom about my hunch about Brian being a cop; he was _not_ thrilled. Got this food from Hector, asked him to call me if anything happened at Race Wars. They'll be here after Race Wars, I hope. And then about twenty minutes after I left, I was surrounded by people on motorcycles, at least two of them with guns, so I followed them. They were the same guys who blew the Eclipse up and it turns out it's my old confidant; Johnny Tran; of course, when Dom had told me that it was Johnny and his crew that blew the Eclipse, I didn't remember him, but he and I talked for a good hour, his cronies around us, before he had let me leave; over all, I'd say it was a pretty good and productive trip." Ashlynn explained.

"Wait, they're coming here?" Venus hissed.

"Thanks for your concern over the fact that I'd been led away by people on motorcycles with guns that had silencers on them." Ashlynn said sarcastically. "The Viper is perfectly fine, V."

"Oh, good." She said with a content smile.

"So weird my friend."

"And your point is?"

"I have no idea, but I'm tired and I have to get up early, so I'm going to go to bed now." Ashlynn said as she stood and stretched before putting the left over meat in the fridge. "Night girls."

"Night Ash," The two chorused together.

Ashlynn sighed softly as she plugged her phone in, turning the volume all the way up, and changed into her pajamas, consisting of a pair of short shorts and a tank top that showed off her belly ring before going into the connecting bathroom and washing her face. After drying her face, Ashlynn dragged herself to bed and curled up underneath the thick duvet, cuddling her body pillow, thoughts of Jesse floating through her head as she drifted off.

* * *

Alright, so, How many of you thought that I was going to make Johnny Tran the father? I thought about it, I won't lie, but I decided not to.

Anyways, review please. I'm thinking of not updating until I've got like 20 or more reviews, so we'll see what happens.


	6. Chapter 6

Oh, what's this? An update so soon? Yes, I've gotten some creativity flowing and I have for you the sixth chapter of this story.

Now, there is going to be OOCness of one or more characters. Get Over It, it's my story, I can do as I please, so nyeh :P

There is also the use of some Italian, whether it is totally right, I'm not sure, I used Google Translator, someone who knows, tell me, I'll fix it.

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Fast and The Furious. Only characters of which are unfamiliar to you. No, you cannot take them.**

You also CANNOT take "Always Cheshire". It has a personal emotional meaning to me. I'm not willing to share.

Anyways with out anymore of my ramblings, here is Chapter 6.

Fast and the Furious 6

Seconds, minutes, hours, and days passed, turning into weeks that eventually led to a month since Ashlynn had been in Los Angeles. Though, to her, it felt more like an eternity had passed, even though she'd talked to Jesse and the rest of the team nearly everyday and sometimes when he wasn't busy, she'd talk to Johnny too. Silver and Venus caught snippets of conversations in Chinese, Italian, Spanish and sometimes German during times they passed her during her conversations. When she wasn't talking to anyone from Los Angeles, Ashlynn was giving her son lessons in all different subjects and learning some herself.

Currently, Ashlynn was out in the large field behind their house and stable having a lesson in horse care and riding, cleaning the horse's hooves when her phone went off, spooking the horse. Jumping away as fast as she could, she wasn't fast enough to escape the range of the horse's back legs and was kicked on her left hip, causing her to yelp and nearly scream in pain.

Cursing as she hopped around on her right leg, she answered her phone without looking at the caller id. "Hello?" She whimpered into the phone, sounding near tears.

"Hey Baby Girl," Dom's voice rang from the other end, concern evident in his voice. "Are you alright?"

"You'd best have a damn good reason for calling me Big Brother," She hissed as Venus came over, having calmed the horse, and prodded at Ashlynn's left hip. "Ow! Venus, don't touch it!"

"Let me look at it."

"No, stop it."

"Ash, just let me look."

"Venus, don't you- Damn it, pull that back up."

"I'm just seeing how bad it is."

"Don't tou- Fuck! That hurts!"

"I would expect so."

"Stop touching me please."

"I think you'll be fine. We'll put ice on it."

"Thank you so much, Doctor V." Ashlynn drawled sarcastically.

"You're welcome, insufferable Ash." Venus retorted just as sarcastically.

"Chica, what's going on?" Letty's voice came across the phone.

"Shit, I'm on speakerphone, aren't I?" Ashlynn asked, causing Venus to bust up laughing. "Oh yeah, laugh it up Venus, laugh it up. Just wait, I'll get you back."

"What just happened?" Dom asked.

"I just got a nice horseshoe imprinted on my left hip… Damn, it's gonna bruise hella bad." She muttered.

"A horseshoe?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, I just got kicked."

"How the hell did you get kicked by a horse Baby Girl?" Vince asked.

"I was having my horse riding lesson and forgot to turn the volume on my phone off, it spooked the horse and I didn't get away fast enough." Ashlynn explained as Venus led the horses back over to her, looking warily at the Dapple Grey she had been working with. "I think this horse might have it out for me now."

"Don't overreact Ash, Arian likes you. He just got scared." Venus told her as she handed Ashlynn the reins before hoisting herself up onto the back of her Hanoverian. "Herra started a bit too. So don't freak."

Ashlynn stuck her tongue out at Venus before turning her attention back to the phone call. "Anyways, is there a reason you all decided to call me right now?"

"Well, Race Wars is in a week, so we figured that we'd call and figure out the finer details of when we shall arrive and all that fun shit." Jesse answered causing Ashlynn to giggle.

"We can call back later though," Mia told her.

"You know what, that would be wonderful. Call back in about an hour and a half."

"Alright, we'll call back then Baby Girl." Dom said and they all said their goodbyes and hung up.

"Fun fun," Ashlynn muttered, turning the sound off on her phone and then put it in her pocket. "Oh this is going to be just great." She grumbled as she prepared herself to get up into the saddle while Venus just giggled. "Keep laughing V."

"Oh, I will." Venus informed her with a grin. "Ahah, my face hurts!"

"That's what you get for grinning and laughing at me." Ashlynn said as she hoisted herself up, much less gracefully than Venus had and a lot less slower due to the kick to the hip she received. "Damn, that's going to hurt for a long time yet."

Ashlynn and Venus headed back to the stable at a steady canter, bantering back and forth like they're usually wont to do. Reaching the stable a few minutes later, Ashlynn groaned at the thought of getting down from the horse and Venus snickered.

"Shut up!" Ashlynn hissed, mostly playful before whining. "It hurts."

"You'll be fine." Venus said as she swung herself off the horse.

Ashlynn stuck her tongue out a slowly, very slowly followed Venus's example and lowered herself to the ground. Whimpering softly as she touched the ground, she led Arian into his stall before she began to get the horse unbridled and unsaddled as Venus had shown her before. Brushing the horse gently, Ashlynn patted his side before leaving the stall, closing and locking it behind her and meeting Venus outside, as she had finished a few minutes ago. Limping along beside Venus, Ashlynn nearly groaned when her phone started vibrating.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hello Little Lotus." Came Johnny's voice.

"Hello Big Hydrangea."

"What have you been up to today?"

"Teaching Luciano, getting kicked by horses, nothing much really."

"That's goo- Wait, you got kicked by a horse? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good, bit of a limp, gonna have one hell of a bruise, possibly bleeding and scabbing in some places, but I've been told I'll be fine." Ashlynn told him before letting out a squeak as Venus poked her hip. "Ow! Damn it V! That hurts!" She hissed. "I'm gonna break your finger!"

"Just try it Ash." Venus retorted.

"You alright?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah, Venus decided she thought it would be funny to poke my hip." Ashlynn mumbled. "Bitch. Fucking hurts."

Johnny laughed, "I was calling to see if you'd like to come down for dinner tonight."

Ashlynn stopped walking, causing Venus to stop and turn to look at her weird. "What? Tonight? But that's like three and a half, almost four hours from here."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that dinner isn't for another five hours, isn't it?" Johnny chuckled.

"I'm not getting out of this am I?"

"No, you're definitely not getting out of this, my mother has been pestering me to get you down her, and I've finally relented, so you've got to show. You can bring your friends and Luciano." He told her, the smile on his face heard in his voice. "And you can stay here until Race Wars is over."

"Dom is sooooooo not going to like this." Ashlynn muttered.

"Toretto doesn't matter."

"~He's family, he matters.~" Ashlynn told him as she started walking again.

"Not to me he doesn't."

"He used to, you all used to be friends… What happened?"

Johnny was silent for a few moments before he spoke. "I think it was you leaving that did it… You were the glue that held us together Little Lotus, and then when you left we all came unglued and we went our separate ways. And then Toretto slept with my sister and it caused the rift to get bigger."

"I see… I suppose that makes sense." Ashlynn muttered, slapping Venus's hand away before she had a chance to poke Ashlynn's hip again. "Stupid Dom."

"So, will you be here?"

"I really have no choice in this matter, do I?"

"Not really, no."

"Alright, we'll be there. Hopefully in time."

"We look forward to seeing you again, Little Lotus."

"And I look forward to seeing everyone there, Big Hydrangea.. We'll see you then."

"Good. Till then."

"Yup."

And with that the conversation ended and Venus and Ashlynn entered the house.

"What was that about?"

"Johnny wants us all to go down there for dinner and stay with his family until Race Wars is over. It's in like three days, and then we can be home or whatever in like five days." Ashlynn told her as she got a large ice pack out of the freezer for her hip.

"What?" Venus snapped. "We're not going."

"Yes, Venus, we are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, we aren't. We're gonna stay here. You're already having your family up after Race Wars, that's bad enough."

"Yes we are. And just chill, my family is cool, alright? It's my house, I'll invite who I want, thank you." Ashlynn said, sticking her tongue out at Venus.

"What's going on?" Silver asked as she and Luciano walked into the kitchen.

"One of Ashlynn's friends wants us all to go to their house and stay until the end of the Race Wars thing." Venus informed the shorter girl, still staring at Ashlynn.

"Chill out, alright, you'll like them, I'm sure of it." Ashlynn told Venus. "Besides, he offered dinner tonight too. Come on, a night where we don't have to cook food? Or do dishes, you really wanna pass that up?"

Venus looked as though she were having an argument with herself; she didn't mush like having to do dishes, really who does? But that's besides the point.

"Come on Venus, no cooking, no dishes to do, for a whole week almost."

"Fine, we'll go."

"Yay! Thanks Venus."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So, what do you say Silver?" Ashlynn asked, turning to the other girl, wincing at the pain in her hip.

"I have no problem with it." Silver said with a small smile.

"Are you ok Mamma?" Luciano asked, walking up to Ashlynn.

"Yeah, I just got kicked by a horse." She told her son softly. "I should have been more careful. But don't worry about that. How would you like to go down and meet one of Mamma's old friends? And then we'll meet the family."

"Really?" Luciano asked, his eyes alight with excitement.

"Yes, really." Ashlynn said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" He exclaimed jumping up and down.

"Ok, ok, relax." Ashlynn said with a smile. "We'll have to pack some clothes for a couple days, alright?"

"Really?"

"Yup. We're staying with Mamma's friend for a couple days."

"Yay!"

Ashlynn smiled as he ran off to his room excitedly. "I'll be helping him get some clothes together. You guys should get your stuff too, we gotta leave soon." She told Venus and Ashlynn who had begun conversing with each other before she left the room and followed her son to his room.

Ashlynn had just finished helping Luciano get his clothes together when her phone went off on her pocket.

"Hello?"

"Hey Baby Girl, not interrupting anything are we?" Dom's voice rang through the phone, she could tell he was grinning.

"No, you're not interrupting anything and get that grin off your face!" She told him as she walked, well, more like limped, to her own room.

"How's your hip?" Mia asked, concern clear in her voice.

"It's going to be fine. I'll just be a gimp for about two weeks until it doesn't hurt too bad and then I'll have to wait for the bruise to totally go away."

"That's good." She heard Vince chime in, he sounded like he wasn't in the same room or something. "You gonna be here for Race Wars, Baby Girl?"

"Ah, yeah, I will," Ashlynn said as she began looking through her closet.

"Something wrong?" Leon asked.

Ashlynn silently cursed herself. "No, nothing is wrong, I'm just looking through my closet for some stuff. No biggie."

"Any reason, you're going through your closet Chica?" Letty asked, disbelief heard in her voice.

"Ah, yeah.. There's a reason."

"You gonna tell us?" Jesse asked curiously.

"I'd prefer not to." Ashlynn told them honestly.

"What's going on Baby Girl?" Dom demanded.

"But Dom," She whined.

"No buts, what's going on?" "An old friend asked me to come down and have dinner at their place and stay there until Race Wars is over." Ashlynn explained, pulling articles of clothing and shoes out of her closet before rummaging through her drawers.

"An old friend?" Dom said suspiciously.

"Yeah, an old friend from down there." Ashlynn confirmed.

"You didn't know very many people down here Baby Girl." Vince informed her, sounding closer.

"Like I didn't know that. Thanks for reminding me Vince." Ashlynn said softly. "And since I didn't know very many people, it'll make it a short list of people for you to look into, won't it?"

"Baby Girl, I didn't mean it like that." Vince said.

"I know you didn't mean it like that, and I'm just saying that you won't have to go through a long list of people." She replied as she pulled out a duffle bag and put everything in it and grabbing another one for toiletries. "And when you finally figure out who it is, don't bother getting angry or try to talk me out of it. It won't change my mind, got it?"

"Who is it Baby Girl?" Dom asked, sounding tense.

"You'll figure it out, but don't try and talk me out of it."

"We got it." Letty cut in, most likely cutting Dom off, Ashlynn figured.

"Thank you, I have to go. I've got like four hours until dinner and we have to be there early." Ashlynn told them.

"Alright, we'll see you later," She heard Jesse say and she smiled.

"Yes you will. Till then."

There was a chorus of goodbyes before the line went dead and she hung up. Sighing softly, she knew this was not going to end well; Dom and Vince would figure out who it was and would undoubtedly call back and yell. And by then, she'd already be on the road, hopefully. Quickly, Ashlynn stuffed her phone charger in with her clothes and zipped both bags shut and walked into the living room with them, where she saw Venus and Silver waiting with Luciano.

"Are we all ready then?" She asked, pulling on a pair of black and teal flats.

"Yup."

"Yes.

"Ready!"

Ashlynn smiled and walked out to the garage, the others following behind her. "Which cars are we taking?"

"I'm taking the Honda." Venus said, walking towards her customized Acura rsx Type S; it was all black with a purple-silver dragon design, two dragons started on the hood twisting and turning as they snaked down either side of the car their tails ending on the trunk, the seats were black and purple leather and there were interior neon purple LED lights that matched the LED lights on the bottom of the car.

"I'm gonna take my Mustang." Silver said as she walked over to her 2001 Mustang. It was silver with black and grey/silver seats, a large black Deathbat design to support her favorite band; the skull was on the hood, a wing on either door and there was a blue smoke design that trailed from the ends of the wings to the trunk, and had modified scissor doors.

"Alright, and we'll take my Mustang." Ashlynn said as she grabbed Luciano's booster seat from beside the door and walking over to her 1965 Mustang, her son following behind her. It was painted in pink and purple stripes, on the hood there was a Cheshire grin and on the trunk there were the words "Always Cheshire" written in a fancy bubbly script. The seats were black leather with pinstriped purple and pink, looking as though it had been stitched together.

Placing Luciano's booster seat in the back, Ashlynn made sure he was buckled before putting their things in the trunk, grabbing a couple drinks from the garage fridge, and getting in herself. Buckling up and starting her car, Ashlynn opened the garage doors and pulled out, Silver and Venus following her, the doors closing behind them as they drove off.

"Here we go." Ashlynn muttered to herself.

"Yay!" Luciano exclaimed, still excited at the prospect of seeing family.

Ashlynn smiled as she drove through town to the freeway, her and the girls gathering attention from people on the street because of their cars as they drove passed. Getting on the freeway, Ashlynn wasn't surprised when her phone rang. Looking at the caller id, Ashlynn sighed with relief that it was only Johnny.

"Hello?" She answered, putting the phone on speaker.

"Hello," Johnny's voice rang through.

"Can I help you with something?"

"My mother is pestering me with questions as to when you will arrive."

"Well, we just got on the freeway, we'll be there in a few hours."

"I'll let her know then, maybe she'll relax."

Ashlynn laughed. "Alright then, I'll see you then."

"Till you arrive Little Lotus."

"Bye Big Hydrangea."

The line went dead and Ashlynn hung up.

"Mamma, who was that?"

"That was my friend that you're going to meet. We're going to stay with his family."

"Oh."

Ashlynn smiled as she passed a few cars, watching as Silver and Venus raced each other through traffic. About an hour passed in this manner when Luciano spoke again.

"Mamma, I'm thirsty." He said.

"Alright." Grabbing one of the bottles of water, she used her knee to keep the wheel straight and opened it enough to where Luciano could get it open without trouble before handing him the bottle and grabbing ahold of the wheel again.

"Grazie."

"Sei Benevento."

Another half hour passed before Ashlynn's phone went off again and she answered it without bothering to look at the caller id.

"Watch what you say, my son is in the car." She told the caller as she put the phone on speaker again.

"Baby Girl, you're not going." Dom's voice came through.

"Yes I am. I'm already about halfway there. I'm not turning around." Ashlynn told him. "Put your headphones in Luciano, ora!"

Quickly, Luciano put in the headphones to his handheld video game and turned the volume up so he couldn't hear what was being said.

"Accidenti Bambina, non si può andare lì!" Dom yelled.

"Sì, posso Dominic e io sono." Ashlynn replied.

"Potrebbero farti del male!" Vince snapped.

"Essi non." Ashlynn tried to tell them.

"They won't listen Chica, I kept them from calling for as long as I could." Letty told her.

"Accidenti Dominic! Che non mi farà male!" Ashlynn snapped. "I'm going and that's final!" With that, she hung up and threw her phone in the passenger seat.

"Mamma?"

"Sì?"

"Stai bene?"

"Io sto bene."

The rest of the drive was made in relative silence, Ashlynn ignored her phone whenever it vibrated in the seat next to her and soon the came to the exit they needed and Ashlynn watched as Silver and Venus followed after her down the off ramp. Soon, the three cars wee surrounded by motorcycles and Ashlynn rolled her eyes, though there was a smile on her face as she followed the motorcycle in front of her. They were led to an expensive looking neighborhood and up to and equally expensive looking house when they stopped.

"Time to get out little man." Ashlynn told Luciano as she shut the car off and unbuckled herself. Luciano followed after her, unbuckling himself and then climbing over the front seat to get out. Ashlynn found Silver and Venus standing next to her as she locked and shut her door as the motorcycles around them either drove off or were shut off. Luciano hid slightly behind Ashlynn's right leg as she stretched her left one.

"Ash?" Venus spoke.

"Yeah Venus?"

"You never told me your friend was hot."

Looking in the direction Venus was, Ashlynn smiled when she noticed Venus had caught sight of Johnny as he took his helmet off.

"I told you that you'd like him, I figured that was enough of a clue." Ashlynn told her with a grin.

* * *

Translations for pretty much that entire conversation.

accidenti bambina, non si può andare lì - Damn it Baby Girl, you can't go there!

Sì, posso Dominic e io sono - Yes, I can Dominic and I am.

potrebbero farti del male - they could hurt you

essi non - they will not

accidenti Domenico - Damn it Dominic

che non mi farà male - they will not hurt me

Stai bene - are you alright

lo sto bene - i am alright


	7. Chapter 7

Alright, so, here's the next chapter for my Fast and the Furious story.

I'm dedicating this chapter to **Druid Archer**, who's simple review totally made me giggle. Thank you very much.

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything from the Fast and the Furious, just the characters you do not recognize from the movie, and the tweaks to the storyline are mine.**

So, no more stalling, here is chapter seven.

Fast and the Furious 7

Smiling to herself, Ashlynn walked up to Johnny and hugged him. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you again, too, Little Lotus." He said as he wrapped his arms around her. "You never said your friends were pretty."

Glancing up at him and then over to where her friends stood conversing informed her that he was looking at Venus specifically, who was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, low pro Vans, and purple tank top with a black jacket over it, her bangs were slanted over her right eye, kind of resting on the edge of her sunglasses, and the rest of it was kind of spiked up in every other direction, while Silver was wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans, Vans that seemed to swallow her feet, and black t-shirt with her jacket wrapped around her hips. Their bags sitting at their feet.

"Yeah, well, you only have a chance with one of them; so don't screw it up." Ashlynn told him.

"Me, screw something up?" Johnny asked in mock incredulity. "I would never do that."

"Yeah, uh huh, I've heard that one before."

Johnny laughed, "Come on, let me get your stuff Little Lotus. We'll get you all situated before dinner, hopefully."

"Alright." Ashlynn said with a smile and walked back over to her car where Luciano was hiding behind Venus and Silver. As she opened her trunk, she didn't have a chance to grab her bags before they were pulled from the trunk by Johnny. "I could have gotten it, thank you very much."

"I know, but it wouldn't be polite to make a lady carry her things." Johnny said with a smile. "And besides, I'd never hear the end of it from my mother if I didn't do it."

"Idiot," Ashlynn snorted as she followed after Johnny, who took Venus's and Silver's two bags each as well; both girls looking over to Ashlynn curiously and angrily. "Just let him do it. He's just being polite." She told them as she took Luciano's hand and walked off to the front door where Johnny was standing.

Quietly, Johnny led them into the house and Ashlynn could hear the woman in the kitchen conversing and the men were in the den also conversing. Quickly, Johnny ushered them up the stairs and to three rooms that had been prepared for them earlier that day.

"These are the rooms that have been prepared for you to choose from, they each have their own bathrooms so you don't all have to share." Johnny said, handing each of them their bags. "Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes; so go ahead and choose who goes where and relax or freshen up for dinner."

Ashlynn nodded and hugged Johnny once more. "~Thank you Johnny.~"

"~Of course Little One.~" He said softly, hugging her back before bowing shallowly to all of them and returning downstairs "Hey V, you know that you're supposed to take your shoes off at the front door, right?" Ashlynn said, having glanced down and noticed that her temperamental friend had neglected to remove her shoes.

"Since when?" Venus asked incredulously.

"Since you stepped into the home of an Asian family, it's polite."

"Are you trying to say that I'm not polite Ash?"

"No, I'm saying that you didn't take your shoes off."

"Well someone should have said something!"

"It common knowledge! You watch anime just as much as Silver and I, did you just never notice that they always take there shoes off at the door? Didn't you notice that we paused by the door?"

"Apparently it's not common knowledge, 'cause I didn't know!" Venus snapped before turning and entering one of the bedrooms.

Ashlynn rolled her eyes. "Over react much?" She muttered before nodding to Silver, who had rolled her eyes at her friends' antics as she smiled with amusement, before turning and leading Luciano into one of the other two rooms, leaving the last one from Silver, who stood there giggling at her friends' antics. Some things will never change, she thought before walking into the last room, a smile on her face.

"Mamma?"

"Sì?"

"I'm hungry."

Ashlynn smiled. "Don't worry, we'll be eating soon. Why don't you go in and go to the bathroom, it was a long drive."

Luciano nodded and walked off to the bathroom, leaving the door cracked in case he needed his mother's help. Ashlynn sighed softly to herself, this was going to be a long couple of days. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she grumbled to herself before pulling it out of her pocket. It was the phone she'd given Jesse.

"Hello?" She answered hesitantly.

"Wasn't sure if you were gonna answer." Jesse's voice came from the other end.

"I almost didn't."

"Understandable, seeing as Vince and Dom freaked out on you."

"Yeah, not very fun."

"Are you alright though?"

"Mamma."

"Yeah, I'm good, hold on, Luciano needs my help." Ashlynn said as she stood and entered the bathroom. "Quello che è bambino?(what is it baby boy)"

"Non riesco a raggiungere il lavello.(I can not reach the sink)"

Ashlynn nodded, looking around the bathroom, spotting a stool tucked away and grabbed it for Luciano. "Ci sei bambino.(there you are baby boy)"

"Grazie Mamma."

Ashlynn smiled at him as she watched him wash his hands.

"Everything alright?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, Luciano couldn't reach the sink, so I found a stool for him so he could wash up for dinner." She replied.

"Ah, so you're there then?"

"Yeah, you're not gonna freak out too, are you?"

Jesse laughed softly. "Nah, if you say they aren't going to hurt you, I trust you."

"Thank God someone does. It's like Dom and Vince don't remember ever actually being on speaking terms with Johnny. We all used to be friends." Ashlynn told him exasperatedly.

"With the way they act, I never would have thought that."

"Yeah, well, you know what they say, people change."

"That's true."

"Yeah, anyways, I should probably get going, dinner will be ready soon."

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

Ashlynn smiled, "Yeah, I'll make a point of being at Race Wars."

"That would be kick ass."

She laughed. "I'm sure it will be, so I'll see you then."

"See you then."

"Bye Jess, love you."

"Love you too Ash."

She smiled, but soon winced as she heard Dom's voice before she hung up. He was yelling at Jesse for talking to her without telling Dom. She sighed, someone really needed to smack some common sense into Dom.

"Mamma?"

"Yes?"

"Is dinner ready now?"

Ashlynn laughed. "I'm sure it is. Let me wash up."

"Alright."

Smiling to herself, Ashlynn washed her hands and pulled her hair away from her face, pulling it into a low ponytail before straightening her black and teal checkered flannel button up, that she wore over a solid black tank top, and rolled the sleeves up to her elbows. There was a knock on her bedroom door as she pulled her pants up a bit more before straightening her shirts out again. Quickly, she walked to the door and smiled when she saw Johnny on the other side.

"I'm to collect you all for dinner." He told her with a smile.

"Alright." She said before turning back to Luciano. "Luciano, dinner is ready now."

"Yay!" Cried the little boy as he ran over and attached himself to his mother's hip, causing her to wince slightly, but he was too excited to notice.

"Luciano, this is Johnny Tran. I forgot to introduce you earlier. Johnny, this is my son Luciano." Ashlynn said with a smile as stepped from her room, closing the door behind her.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Tran." Luciano said politely, kind of hiding behind Ashlynn as he got shy.

Johnny smiled. "Nice to meet you too little man. You can just call me Johnny."

"Better get Venus and Silver." Ashlynn said, heading towards Silver's door. "Silver?" She called as she knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Silver asked as she opened the door a few moments later.

"Dinner is ready."

"Alright." The shorter girl said with a smile as she joined them in the hall.

Ashlynn turned towards Venus' door, where Johnny and Venus stood, the latter blushing lightly as she stepped out of the room, brushing against Johnny. Ashlynn grinned, nudging Venus as they followed Johnny downstairs into the large dining room. Venus pinched Ashlynn's arm before they stepped through the doorway and became the center of attention.

The curly haired girl waved with a small, nervous smile on her face as she looked at the people she hadn't seen in a little over four years. "~Hello.~" She said softly, bowing shallowly. Soon after, she found herself engulfed in multiple hugs as the women all crowded around her.

"~It had been a very long time.~" Johnny's mother said as she let go of the younger girl.

"~Yes, I know. And I am sorry that I never got to explain what happened.~" Ashlynn said, a sad smile tugging at her lips.

"~Well, sit, sit down and we will catch up.~"

Ashlynn smiled and nodded, sitting in one of the empty chairs, pulling Luciano up into her lap. Venus sat to her left and Silver on her right, Johnny took the empty seat next to Venus, which caused the girl to blush lightly. Soon everyone else was seated and dinner being served. Luciano had trouble with his chopsticks and Ashlynn smiled when he pouted and began feeding him as well as herself.

"~So, Little Lotus, what happened four years ago. It was like you dropped off the face of the earth.~" Johnny's father asked about halfway through dinner.

"~Well, my father was offered a higher paying job in the company and my mother wanted more than what we had. She wanted the high society life, to be one of the social elite. And she wanted it so bad the she pestered my father until he finally accepted the offer. We had a week to be packed up and moved into the new house for my father to begin at the new office.~" Ashlynn began, still feeding Luciano. "~So for that week, I wasn't allowed to go to school, I was pretty sure my mother told them I wasn't going to be there again, I wasn't allowed to see any of my friends, I was only allowed to help pack. Which I really, really didn't want to do. And then two days before my father was to be in the office, we had finished packing and I was told I was only going to be allowed to say goodbye to my cousins and our friends, seeing as they were always together. I had asked if we could come by here so I could say goodbye, but my mother said it would be wasting time and then we were gone.~"

"~I never did like your mother.~" Johnny muttered.

"~Me neither.~" Venus piped up, surprising everyone.

Ashlynn just smiled as she fed Luciano and continued with her story. "~So, we moved into the new house, I was enrolled in school, one of those schools for the children of the socially elite, it was very annoying.~"

"~Damn straight.~" Silver muttered as she ate.

Ashlynn and Venus snorted before the former continued. "~I stopped wearing the clothes my mother wanted me to wear and started wearing all black, lots of jewelry, dark make up, boots, I still do usually, sort of am now, and I avoided most people at school. Which attracted the attention of these two.~" She gestured to Venus and Silver. "~Venus and Silver. My best friends in a school full of stuck up brats. And then it was about six years ago now, I met a boy. He was nothing like the rest of the people we attended school with. He was very nice, polite, charming, he was a great friend, and eventually, we started dating. I was fourteen and a half when we got together, as our relationship progressed, he became even nicer, more polite, he seemed perfect, I began to think that maybe he was The One for me, but no.~" Ashlynn paused, looking down at the boy in her lap and kissed the top of his head. "~I was fifteen years, four months, and one week old when I got knocked up, I was sixteen years and one month when I had my beautiful baby boy, and despite the fact that I was a teenage mother and my own mother wanted me to give the baby up for adoption, I was happy. My father, though a little sad that I was only sixteen, was happy for me and accepted my decision to keep my baby. Three months later, the father ran out on us and ignored my existence, even when we were paired up in classes at school. He made it look easy, ignoring me, so eventually, I just ignored him and I was fine. Until my parents died.~"

"~That must have been very hard on you.~" Johnny's mother said softly.

"~How long ago was it?~" Johnny's sister asked, gaining disapproving looks from the rest of the present family.

"~It's alright, no harm in asking.~" Ashlynn reassured before looking at the younger Chinese girl. "~It was about five months ago now.~"

She was given various looks from the family, ranging from pity to understanding and she just shrugged.

"~It was hard, I admit, sometimes it still hurts. Sometimes I think it's a dream and when I wake up Papa will be there reading the morning paper and mother will be making snippy comments about what I choose to wear, but eventually, reality sinks in and I have to accept it.~" She said softly. "~But, all the matters now is that I am reacquainting with the rest of my family and old friends.~"

"~And you're always welcome here, Little One.~" Johnny's mother said with a kind smile.

"~Thank you.~" Ashlynn said with a smile of her own.

"~Maybe now that you're back in their lives, you can help your cousin and them with their debt.~" Johnny's father said casually.

"~Debt?~" Ashlynn glanced at Johnny and then his father. "~What debt?~"

"While your cousin was in Lompoc, he needed someone to the garage and shop from closing." Johnny said softly as he turned to look at her. "So we took care of it and now he's paying us back."

"How much?" She asked, her face blank as her grip tightened on her chopsticks.

"A lot."

Growling softly, Ashlynn ignored Silver's hand on her shoulder and turned her sharp eyes back to Johnny's father. "~How much debt~?"

"~A couple hundred thousand.~" The older man replied.

Turning her attention back to Johnny, Ashlynn frowned. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Dom didn't want anyone to know. I don't think he's told the team the real reason behind it." He told her softly.

"And how are they paying you back?" Ashlynn asked, though she had a feeling she already knew.

"They're hijacking semis."

"That's why they're doing it? Because they owe you money?" She nearly screeched before putting her chopsticks down and covering her son's ears as she started ranting irately in Italian, causing Silver and Venus to pale.

"What's she saying?" Johnny whispered to Venus.

"You don't want to know. Trust me." Venus whispered back, glancing from Ashlynn to Johnny. "Just know she's threatening you."

"Threatening me how?"

"Trust me, that's what you don't want to know. She's only ever reserved that threat for one other person."

"And who's that?"

"The munchkin's father."

Johnny looked surprised as he stared at the short haired girl. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. When he walked out on them, she was fine for a couple of weeks, but you know how it is when you bottle everything up. She was trying to be strong for the little squirt and not let her parents know she was hurting and then one day after school…" Venus trailed off, looking at the still ranting Ashlynn.

"She just blew up out of nowhere?" He asked, watching as his old friend finished ranting and took deep, calming breaths.

"Yes," Venus said, turning to grin at Johnny. "I laughed so hard."

"You're not laughing now." He pointed out, looking her in the eye.

She averted her gaze and a light blush coated her pale cheeks. "That's 'cause-"

"She likes you." Ashlynn cut her off.

Venus blushed more, turning to glare darkly at Ashlynn. "Ako ay pumatay sa iyo. (I will kill you.)" She growled.

"No you won't. You love me too much V." Ashlynn grinned before glaring at Johnny. "We're talking about this after dinner."

Johnny nodded, "Alright."

"~So, other than that, how has it been since I last saw everyone~?" Ashlynn asked, glancing around the table as she resumed eating, as well as feeding Luciano.

And with that, the mood lightened and Ashlynn listened intently to what everyone had to say about what had happened in the years that she had been gone. She knew that Venus probably didn't care at all and Silver was probably only half listening, but she was happy. When dinner came to an end more than an hour later, Ashlynn offered to help with the dishes, but was shooed out of the kitchen. Laughing to herself, she shook her head before turning to Silver and Venus who both look out of place, no doubt feeling out of place.

"You guys alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, just a little awkward." Silver replied softly, looking up from her phone briefly.

"Yeah, I mean, we don't know these people like you do Ash." Venus said, crossing her arms.

"I know, but they're really great, and I just know that you guys will love them the more you're around them." Ashlynn said as she picked Luciano up.

"Except that most of them speak nothing but Chinese, which isn't a problem because we can speak it, but still." Venus said with a frown.

"I know, but they're a traditional family, isn't that right Johnny?" Ashlynn said, smiling at Venus as she turned red.

"Just a bit traditional." He said with a smile, standing off to Venus' left as he stepped into the hall with them. "But don't worry, makes having conversations you don't want overheard easier."

"That's true." Venus muttered, still embarrassed.

Johnny smiled again and casually wrapped an arm around the short girl's shoulders. "Don't worry, if you feel that bad about it, you can make it up to me by going on a date with me tomorrow."

"She'd love to!" Ashlynn cut in before Venus could say anything, earning a glare from said girl. "But first, you and I are discussing this debt my cousin has."

"Of course, we'll go to the study." Johnny said, leading the way, his arm still wrapped around Venus' shoulders.

Ashlynn smiled, looking at Silver, who was still engrossed in something on her phone and rolled her eyes. "You can go back to your bedroom S, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

Silver looked up at Ashlynn and smiled softly. "Alright Ashlynn, I shall see you later my friend."

Ashlynn shook her head with a smile as she limped after Johnny and Venus to the study. "So," She began, sitting in one of the plush chairs. "How much does my cousin owe you."

"With or without the payments he's already made?" Johnny asked, removing his arm from Venus' shoulders to go through a filing cabinet.

"Total, without the payments he's already made." Ashlynn said, shifting Luciano so he could sit comfortably.

"Roughly about five hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars." Johnny said as he looked over the paperwork he pulled out of one of the files.

"How many trucks have they hijacked so far?" She asked.

"Three."

"How much does that take off the debt?"

"It was roughly fifty thousand dollars worth of product in each truck, so that's one hundred and fifty thousand. That makes it three hundred and eighty-two thousand."

"So, going on the fact that it's about fifty thousand dollars worth of product per truck, they'd have to hijack eight more trucks in order to totally square this debt with you."

"That's right." He said as he nodded. "Any money over the amount of the debt would be given to Dominic."

"And what if something happens to them Johnny?" Ashlynn snapped. "What if something happens to my family, huh? To Dom, or Letty? Vince? Or Leon and Jesse? Where would that leave Mia?"

"Dominic wanted the quickest way, and this was it. I didn't tell him to choose it." Johnny said as he looked at Ashlynn.

Ashlynn growled to herself. "I'll pay it."

"You know that Dominic won't like that." Johnny said. "We both know it will piss him off."

"Yeah, well, Dominic is going to be getting an earful from me later. Of all the crazy, stupid shit he's ever done, this has got to be the worst." Looking down at Luciano. "I don't ever want to hear you say that word, got me?"

"Sì Mamma." He said, nodding.

"Good." Looking back at Johnny, who was attempting to discreetly check Venus out, she rolled her eyes. "When's the next heist?"

"After or during Race Wars as far as I know." He informed her, looking down at the paperwork once again, flipping a page here and there as he looked it over. "Next payment is scheduled for late next week."

"And the team doesn't know the real reason behind the heists?"

"They just know that the shop and garage are in trouble and this is how they're getting the money to keep it open."

Growling softly, Ashlynn sighed. "Alright, I'll have all of it for you by that same day, you tell my cousin that he and the team don't have to do anymore heists. Before Race Wars, Johnny."

"Alright Little Lotus, I'll tell him, but when he jumps on my case, I'm totally throwing you under the bus." He said, holding his hands up in a show of surrender.

"I wouldn't expect any less, no one likes dealing with Dom when he's pissed." Ashlynn said with a frown. "I'm going to bed now. After I convince your mother to give me an ice pack."

"For what?" Johnny asked as Venus snorted.

"The bruise on my hip." Ashlynn said as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

"She got kicked by the horse earlier today, remember? She told you when you called her."

"Oh, yeah." He said sheepishly. "How is that doing by the way?"

Ashlynn had Luciano stand up before she slowly stood up and stretched her sore hip. "Pretty bad."

"Just show him." Venus piped up, a grin on her face.

"You're so enjoying this." Ashlynn hissed.

"Yes. Yes I am." Venus said, her grin widening.

"How bad is it?" Johnny asked, looking seriously worried.

Sighing softly, Ashlynn turned her left hip to face Johnny, sliding the waistband down so he could see the top inch or so of it. "That's just the top."

"Damn, you don't do anything halfway, do you?" Johnny asked as he winced.

Ashlynn and Venus snorted. "Nope."

"And now I'm going." She said, leading Luciano out of the room.

"So, how about that date?" She heard Johnny ask as she closed the door and walked off to the kitchen where she asked for an ice pack before bidding everyone a good night.

Entering the bedroom, Ashlynn stretched and pulled out night clothes for Luciano, telling him to change in the bathroom before pulling out her own pajama pants and tank top and changing quickly while her son changed in the bathroom. Grabbing her phone, she sat on the edge of the bed, ice pack against her hip, and checked her phone for missed texts and calls, seeing as she left it in the bedroom during dinner. There were a few voicemails from Dom's house and a few texts from Jesse, though, she was sure they weren't all from the boy. Yawning, she looked up as Luciano walked out of the bathroom and tucked him into bed before going into the bathroom to take care of her business; going to the bathroom, brushing her teeth, washing her face, etc. before climbing into bed next to her son. Before she fell asleep, she sent a text to Jesse.

'You can tell them to stop worrying. I'm still alive, I've been well fed, and now I'm going to sleep. Which I will wake up from in the morning. And I will maybe call them in the morning, if I feel like it. I may or may not stop by the garage tomorrow and I text you tomorrow sometime. Good night, love you.'

She laid there on her side for a few minutes, shaking from the cold chill the ice pack sent through her bones when she got a text back.

'Alright, I'll let them know. Sleep well and I look forward to hearing from you. Love you too, night.'

And with that, Ashlynn fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Venus looked at the man before her, contemplating. "I don't know."

"Lunch date, go out for a couple hours, be back by dinner time. Promise." He told her, a charming smile on his face.

"Hmmm…" She stared at him for a few moments before nodding, a small smile and a light blush on her face. "Alright."

Johnny's smile widen. "Alright, we'll leave at eleven thirty, noon?"

"Sounds good," She said as she walked to the door of the study. Turning back to look at him, she smirked. "But we're taking my car." And with that she was gone.


	8. Chapter 8

So, here's chapter 8. And I know, it's a really fast update! The creativity started flowing... Hopefully it keeps flowing XD

**Disclaimer: I do _NOT_ own anything from the Fast and the Furious, just Ashlynn, Venus, Silver, Luciano, and the plot changes.**

I hope you enjoy.

Fast and the Furious 8

Morning came and with it, Venus came barreling into Ashlynn's room, scaring the taller girl and her son awake.

"Dear God V!" Ashlynn yelled. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Venus ignored what Ashlynn said and grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "I don't know what to wear, what do I say? I'm going to make a total idiot out of myself! I don't date for this reason, I make a fool out of myself! What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, first…" Ashlynn trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"Get off of me!" She snapped at the shorter girl.

"Yeesh, alright, all you had to do was ask." Venus mumbled as she stood up and crossed her arms.

Ashlynn rolled her eyes as she slowly stood, wincing at the tightness in her hip as she did so. "Alright, so, why couldn't you go and coordinate with S?"

"She tried to help me, but she doesn't know him, you do, you know what he likes." Venus told her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Just be yourself V." Ashlynn told her as she watched Luciano walk into the bathroom.

"Be myself? Ash, that's like date suicide! I'll probably say something and insult him and then he won't want to talk, or hell, even look at me again." Venus ranted, waving her arms around emphatically.

"Why does it matter V, he's just a guy, right?" Ashlynn asked, raising an eyebrow.

The shorter girl froze and looked thoughtful for a moment or two. "I don't know… I just, I like him… He doesn't seem like the assholes from back home."

"That's because he's not." Ashlynn told her as Luciano walked out of the bathroom rubbing one of his eyes. "Lucicano, bambino, find your swim trunks. We're going to the beach today." She told him before turning back to Venus. "Let's find you something to wear."

And with that, the two were in Venus' room and Ashlynn was going through the shorter girl's clothes. Ashlynn was mumbling to herself as Venus sat on the bed watching the curly haired girl searching for an outfit.

"Let's see… No, no… Nope… Ah, definitely not… Hell no…" Ashlynn continued mumbling. "Ah ha! Here!" She cried, waving a pair of white skinny jeans at Venus. "Now to find something to wear them with." Resuming her digging, Ashlynn began mumbling to herself again for a few minutes. "Perfect!" She exclaimed before standing up and holding a teal, knit wrap sweater cocktail dress. "There you are. You're outfit is nearly complete. Just have to find shoes." Glancing down at the ground, she scanned it for shoes before finding what she was looking for; three inch, black stilettos. "Outfit complete." She said as she grabbed the stilettos and handed them to Venus. "Now, I'm pretty sure you can manage everything else, yes?"

"Yeah, yeah. I've got it. Thanks Ash!" V called as she flounced off to the bathroom.

Ashlynn rolled her eyes and went back into her room to find Luciano in his swim trucks with a white wife beater tank top on and smiled.

"When are we going to the beach Mamma?"

"Soon as I get changed and gather everything."

"Alright."

Ashlynn smiled as she grabbed her bikini and a pair of shorts and a tank top before walking into the bathroom and changing quickly. She pulled her hair back and brushed her teeth before walking back into the bedroom where Luciano was holding her phone.

"Bambino?"

"It kept buzzing, but I didn't answer it."

"That's alright, let me see."

Luciano handed the phone to his mother and she smiled and kissed his forehead causing him to groan. "Mamma!"

"Luciano!" She mimicked as she looked at her phone. 'One missed call from Dominic'. Dear Lord, her cousin was an impatient man. Sighing to herself, she dialed his number and began searching through her bag for sunscreen and her large beach towels.

"Ashlynn."

"Dominic."

"Thank God you're ok."

"Yeah, hello to you too, Dom. Of course I'm fine. Johnny's family still likes me, I'm not the one who was stupid enough to sleep with his sister."

"One mistake and no one ever lets me live it down."

"Course not. So," She paused as she found the towels and pulled them out of the bag. "Is there a reason for you calling me at ten thirty in the morning? Shouldn't you be at the garage?"

"We're all heading out to the garage. I just wanted to make sure you were still alive."

Ashlynn scoffed. "Just because you can't seem to remember what a great guy Johnny is, doesn't mean he's not still that person. You'd know that if you'd made an effort to stay friends with him after I was forced to move."

"He could have made an effort too." Dom shot back.

"Yeah, yeah he could have." Ashlynn said as she found the two bottles of sunscreen. "But at least he made sure the garage and shop didn't go out of business while you were in Lompoc, yeah?"

"How do you know about that!" Dom hissed and Ashlynn was sure he was rubbing his head, glancing around to make sure none of the rest of the team was around.

"Well, Johnny's father told me. You know, 'cause you sure as hell didn't." She said, turning to place the towels and sunscreen on her bed.

"No one actually knows about that."

"Yeah, I gathered as much. So, you can image how upset I became when I was informed how you were paying back that huge debt. I mean, I figured you had a really, really good reason, but this is more than I thought." She said as she slipped her flip flops on, motioning for Luciano to do the same. "I flipped out on Johnny, only to have him inform me that because you didn't want to have to pay for a very long amount of time, you chose to pay it off the way you are."

"It's the best way there is Ash."

"You sure about that Dom? Are you absolutely sure you thought this one through? 'Cause, I don't think you did!"

"Of course I thought it through!" Dom yelled.

"Yeah? You did, huh?"

"Yes, I did."

"So, if you, I dunno, got hurt, hospitalized, or even better, _killed_ doing this, you thought about what would happen to Mia, Letty, and the rest of the team? I mean, you were in Lompoc two years, and well, I have to say, that's quite a debt you have, what happens if you die Dom? They lose the shop? The Garage? How are they supposed to get by? How are they supposed to pay off the debt Dom? It'll keep piling up because for every payment they make, another one or even two would be added onto it! Or what if Letty gets hurt, or Vince, or Jesse, or Leon? What then?" She snapped.

"Nothing, 'cause nothing's going to happen!" Dom growled back.

"Right, because you're Dominic Toretto, and if you say it isn't going to happen, it isn't going to happen, yeah?"

"Nothing's going to happen because we're being careful."

"What if the truck drivers fight back Dom?"

"Then we'll take care of it."

"Why didn't you tell me Dom? I would have helped."

"I have it handled."

"Alright, whatever Dom. I have to go, I'm taking Luciano out. I might stop by later." She said, hanging up before he could say anything else before turning to Luciano. "So, how about we go see how Auntie V is doing? See if Auntie S wants to go?"

"Okay!" The little boy exclaimed, never having been to the beach before, he was quite excited.

"Alright." With that, she led Luciano to Venus' room and knocked on the door. "Venus?"

"Yes Ash?"

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Quickly, Ashlynn and Luciano slipped into the room, the former noticing how much more of a mess it was from the twenty minutes before when she'd been in the room.

"Uh, V?"

"What Ash?" Venus asked distractedly.

"Why does it look like a mini tornado was loose in your room?"

"I can't find my car keys?"

"Why do you need to take your keys?"

"'Cause, I told Johnny I'd go out with him for lunch, but only if we took my car."

"I see."

"Did you check your jacket?"

"Yes, Ash." Was Venus' exasperated reply.

"How about the pocket of your jeans from last night?"

"Checked, they're not there."

Ashlynn snorted and rolled her eyes when she saw the aforementioned keys sitting on the nightstand and walked over to the small bed side table. "How about the nightstand?" She asked as she picked up said keys.

Venus looked up and facepalmed. "I'm so blind."

"It's alright V. Don't be too hard on yourself." Ashlynn said, patting the shorter girl's shoulder as she handed over the keys. "Oh, and don't kill Johnny, please."

"I'm not gonna kill him!" Venus exclaimed. "My driving isn't _that_ bad."

"But you admit that you can be pretty bad." Ashlynn teased.

"Oh, shut up." Venus said as she turned to look in the mirror. "I look alright, don't I? Not too much? What about my scars?"

"You look fine, stop worrying. You can't really see the scars, just take a deep breath and relax." Ashlynn said with a smile. "So, now I'm going to see if Silver would like to come with me and Luciano to the beach. Don't make me come back up here and drag you downstairs."

Venus stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes at Ashlynn as she and Luciano left to room. Going across the hall, Ashlynn knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Came Silver's voice.

"Hey S, it's Ash, Luc and I were wondering if you'd like to go to the beach with us?"

"Not right now, but maybe later." Silver called through the door.

"Alright." Ashlynn called back before going into her room and grabbing her phone, wallet, jacket and a pair of sweatpants, as well as a change of clothes for Luciano. Grabbing her large purse, she stuck everything but her phone in it and then placed the towel and sunscreen on top. Grabbing her keys, she and Luciano made they way downstairs and nearly walked into Johnny. "Well hello there. Waiting for Venus?"

Johnny smiled. "Yes, I am. Is she ready?"

"She's ready," She said with a grin, turning back towards the stairs, speaking louder. "She's just trying to get the balls to actually walk down here."

"I HEARD THAT!" Came Venus' voice.

Johnny laughed softly. "I see. So, where are you off to?"

"Luc and I are going to the beach, he's never been."

"Ah, well, you're in for a real treat." Johnny said, smiling down at Luciano before turning his attention to Ashlynn. "Will you be stopping by Toretto's?"

"Maybe." She muttered bitterly.

"Uh oh, I'm sensing some hostility."

"Dom called, wanted to make sure you hadn't killed me."

"Ah, yeah, he doesn't trust me much."

"No, no he doesn't." Ashlynn agreed. "Anyways, I do believe your date just arrived."

Johnny turned to where Ashlynn was looking and found Venus shifting from one foot to the other nervously in the outfit Ashlynn had picked out for her. He couldn't help but wonder what the outfit would look like if she were just in the short dress and stilettos.

"Well, my job here is done and we're off. See you guys later." She called as she led Luciano out, bidding Johnny's family farewell until later, leaving Johnny and Venus to themselves.

"So, off we go, yes?" Venus asked nervously.

"Yes, off we go, ladies first." Johnny said, walking to the door and holding it open for her, causing her to blush lightly.

Venus led him out to her Honda and slid in carefully, aware that she could probably kill herself in the stilettos Ashlynn had picked for her. Adjusting the seat so that she could comfortably reach the pedals, Venus smiled as Johnny got in as she buckled herself in before starting the engine.

"So, where are we off to?" She asked, shoving her purse and light jacket into the backseat.

"I'll direct as you drive." He told her as he relaxed into the seat.

"Alright, but you might want to buckle up." She said as she revved the engine with a wide grin. "Ashlynn would hate me if I killed you."

Johnny looked at her, slightly afraid as he buckled himself in. "Am I going to regret getting in this car with you?"

"I hope not." Venus said with a grin as she took off down the driveway.

Twenty minutes later, they were speeding down one of the main streets, Venus was weaving in and out of traffic, yelling at people when they moved too slow for her liking or got in her way. As she turned right, per Johnny's directions, she groaned when she saw police lights flashing behind her as sirens sounded.

"Damn." She muttered, glancing around, searching for places to get away and hide from the police car behind her.

"Just pull over, I'll take care of it." Johnny told her.

"But that's no fun." Venus grinned as she floored the gas petal and began weaving in and out of traffic. Johnny held tightly to the door handle as he felt himself thrown back into the seat.

It took her fifteen minutes to lose the cop and she glanced over at Johnny who was muttering about never getting into a car while she's driving ever again.

"You're such a baby," Venus muttered as she looked over at him. "You race cars, but you can't handle my driving."

"Eyes on the road, please."

"Fine, fine, so, where am I going from here? Wherever here is."

"Just take a left at the next light."

"Alright." And with that, they were off to the restaurant, which they arrived at twenty-five minutes later and Venus squealed to a stop in the parking stall and cut the engine.

Johnny hurriedly got out of the car and Venus slowly followed after him, grabbing her purse and locking the car, noticing that said restaurant was Chili's; her favorite. Walking around the car, she and Johnny walked into the restaurant side by side, where he held to door open for her. Upon entering, they waited a few moments before they were seated by the hostess and given menus.

"Order anything you want." Johnny told her, causing her to raise an eyebrow as their server placed two glasses of water on the table.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "You've got one chance to say otherwise."

He just chuckled. "I'm sure. Anything you want."

"Alright."

They were given a few minutes to look over the menu before their server came back to take their orders.

"Are you both ready to order?" The brunette girl asked, pulling out her order pad.

"I'm ready." Venus said, looking to Johnny as she spoke.

"We're ready."

"Alright, what can I get for you then?"

Johnny motioned for Venus to order first.

"I'll have your Caribbean Salad with grilled chicken, no green onions, no cilantro, and I'd like your Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken strips, extra sauce on the side. And I'd like a strawberry lemonade."

"Alright, and for you sir?"

"Custom Combination, Grilled Salmon with Garlic and Herbs and Spicy Garlic and Lime Grilled Shrimp. And an iced tea."

"Alright, your order should be up soon."

The two just nodded and the server left, taking their order to the kitchen.

"So…" Johnny muttered, staring at Venus.

"So?" She asked, staring back, leaning back against the booth cushion, her arms crossed.

"What shall we talk about?"

"Uhm, I don't know."

"Well, let's start with talking about Ashlynn." Johnny said after a few minutes of silence, in which there server had given them their respective drinks.

"I suppose." Venus said as she sipped at her strawberry lemonade.

"How has she really been these past few years?" He asked.

"I don't know. I mean, I don't know how she was when she lived here, because when I met her, she was changing into who she is now." She said, brushing some of her straightened hair out of her face.

"Hmmm, well, when she lived here, she was a very optimistic person, always smiling, always laughing, always wearing bright colors. She wore sundresses and other really girly things, did about half of what her mother told her too. Always wore a pair of shorts under her dresses so she could climb the trees. She liked working on cars, and more often than not always went home with stained clothes." Johnny said, a small reminiscent smile on his face. "Those were the good days."

"Well, when S and I met Ash, she wore bright colors and stuff for like a couple weeks, but then she was wearing all black and dark colors. S and I had been friends for a while before Ash showed up and we watched Ash as she rejected high society and soon became a high society reject. We soon gravitated towards her, integrating ourselves into her life and she slowly accepted us. She still likes working on cars, they're a big part of her life I guess. I've not seen her climbing any trees though." Venus said, a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to remember.

"Probably a good thing. She has a knack for getting up a tree no problem, but getting down, she'll nearly kill herself." Johnny said with a laugh.

"Yeah, now she just gets kicked by horses." Venus snickered.

"How did that happen anyway?"

Venus snorted, a grin spreading across her face. "She didn't turn the sound on her cell off and it spooked the horse, the horse kicked and she didn't move face enough."

"Sounds like Ashlynn." Johnny said with a smile as their server came back with their food.

"Is there anything else I can get you." The brunette girl asked.

"Nah, not right now," Johnny said, looking questioningly at Venus.

"Nope, I'm good." Venus said dismissively.

As the server walked away, Venus poured some of the salad dressing on part of the salad and began eating. Johnny watched her a few moments before beginning to eat his own meal.

"So, any other similarities between my Ashlynn and yours?" Johnny asked.

"She still gets messy as hell when working with cars." Venus said with a snort. "She always bitches and complains about it, but she still does it."

"I see…" He trailed off, eating more. "How was she during her pregnancy?"

"She was a royal bitch." Venus deadpanned. "Sometimes. Other times she was just like she is now. And then when the squirt was born, she was the happiest I'd seen her since I met her."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She answered between bites. "I mean, she was happy, but underneath the happy, she was still sad. She wasn't faking being happy or anything, she was just sad as well." She paused, looking thoughtfully at her food. "I think it's because she missed her life here, family, friends, you know? And when she saw the squirt, it was like he was family that she wasn't going to let anyone take from her, because he gave her some sort of semblance of normality and familiarity. I mean, I suppose if I were in her position, I'd feel the same way?"

"Why is that?"

"Because the only people I have are Silver, Ashlynn, and the munchkin." Venus said without realizing it.

"No family?"

Venus looked up and bit her lip before answering. "No, no family."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"You can ask, but I won't answer."

"Fair enough."

They finished eating in a comfortable silence until their server came back to collect their dishes.

"Can I interest you in anything else?" She asked.

"I could use a virgin Strawberry Daiquiri." Venus said.

"I'll have a chocolate shake." Johnny told the girl and she nodded and was off. Looking at Venus curiously, he couldn't help but ask, "So, where did you get the name Venus?"

"I came up with it." She told him.

"Why?"

"Because I don't like giving people my real name. They pity me. I hate pity." She told him as the server brought them their requested beverages.

"I see."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm trying to figure you out."

"Good luck there."

Johnny just smiled as he drank what he could of the shake he ordered, eating the more solid portion with a spoon as Venus drank her Strawberry Daiquiri. When they were both done fifteen minutes later, Johnny paid for the meal and then they were off to Venus' car again.

"So, where are we going now?" She asked as they both settled into the car.

"Just drive around, whatever sparks your interest, I'll direct us back home in time for dinner." Johnny told her.

"You sure you want me to just drive around?"

"No, but let's do it anyway."

"You asked for it." She said as she pulled out of the parking stall and zipped her way out of the parking lot and onto the relatively busy streets.

For the next two and a half hours, they just drove around aimlessly, talking every now and then, listening to music; which the had a long discussion over who's music choice was better. Venus won. They stopped at a gas station so Venus could fill up her car.

"You want anything from inside?" Johnny asked as he got out and stretched his legs.

"Ew, no." Venus said, scrunching her nose. "I don't like gas station stuff. I could go for Lollicup though. Haven't had that in a while."

"Lollicup, huh?" Johnny asked, leaning against her car.

"Yesss, Lollicup." She said with a grin.

"There's one about thirty minutes from here."

"Reeeaallly?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm…"

Once the tank was full and the pump put back, gas cap replaced and the gas door shut, Venus and Johnny slid back into the car.

"So, Lollicup?" She asked as she started the car.

"Sure."

"How much you wanna bet that we'll make it there in fifteen minutes?"

"I'd rather not."

"Spoilsport." She muttered, zipping out of the gas station lot and followed Johnny's directions to said location of Lollicup. "FREAKING A, HURRY UP!" She yelled at the car the cut her off.

"You're a crazy driver."

"I know." She grinned. And just as she said, they made it to Lollicup in fifteen minutes, despite the slow traffic. "I'm awesome." She stated as she got out of the car, Johnny following.

"That's one way to put it." Johnny joked.

Venus just scoffed as they walked inside. They waited in line patiently, well, Johnny waited patiently, Venus was quite impatient and was about to explode and tell the people to hurry up when they finally reached the counter.

"Finally," She muttered, pulling out her wallet. "I'd like a large Honeydew slush with strawberry jelly." She turned to Johnny. "You want anything?"

"No, we can share." He said with a smirk.

Blushing lightly, Venus nodded. "Okay." Turning back to the cashier. "That will be all."

"That's going to be four dollars and ninety-six cents."

Nodding, Venus handed the guy a five.

"Four cents is your change, here's your receipt, it should be ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Venus muttered, going to sit down to wait.

A few minutes later, the drink was ready and Venus grabbed it and a straw, shaking the drink before sticking the straw in the sealed top and taking a sip.

"Mmm, I love Lollicup!" She declared, taking another sip before shyly holding it out for Johnny to take.

Johnny smiled, not taking the cup from her, simply taking a sip as Venus held the cup. "Very sweet, but tasty."

Venus blushed again as they walked back to the car, sipping on the drink. The drive back to Johnny's house was silent, but not uncomfortably so. Venus would occasionally hold the drink out to Johnny and he'd take the cup, brushing his fingers against hers, causing her to blush. All too soon for their liking, they arrived at Johnny's house and Venus parked and shut the car off. Sighing softly, she turned in her seat to face Johnny.

"Something wrong?" He asked, slightly worried.

"My parents died when I was younger." She blurted out. "I try not to show it, but I get jealous of people who have family. I get snarky, sometimes because I don't like people, but also because I'm jealous they have something I don't." She elaborated. "I don't like telling people about it because then they feel sorry for me. The only people I've told are Silver and Ashlynn."

Johnny studied her for a second before taking one of her hands in his. "We all lose people. It sucks. But for every person we lose, another takes their place."

"I guess." She muttered, looking down at their clasped hands. "And I didn't come up with the name Venus; not on my own anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a brother. He would always call me V, I'm not really sure why, but I lost him too. In a car crash. I was sixteen when it happened. I was in the car with him. When it crashed, I was sent through the windshield. The doctors told me I was even lucky to be alive. My brother was in ICU with me, but he didn't make it. After he died, I stopped going by my name and started going by Venus all the time."

"So, what's your real name then?"

"My birth name is Eva Christiana Giovanna Russo."


	9. Chapter 9

ANOTHER UPDATE! I'm on a roll. Knock on wood. I hope you enjoy. The story is kind of picking up now, going with the flow of the movie, but still with my own tweaks to it. So.

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Fast and the Furious. Just characters not apart of the original movie and the changes to the original plot.**

This chapter (and probably the rest) will most likely be dedicated mostly to Venus, because she's the one who keeps pestering me to write. It's quite amusing and gives me more inspiration with the conversations we have.

And now, on with the chapter.

Fast and the Furious 9

While Johnny and Venus had been eating and aimlessly driving around, Ashlynn and Luciano were at the beach as planned. It was fairly empty, not too many people, but not so few that the beach seemed deserted. Luciano was excited, very excited. He hardly held still as Ashlynn put sunscreen on him and was bouncing around, ready to run while Ashlynn put the sunscreen on herself.

"Bambino, relax. The ocean isn't going anywhere." She said with a smile.

"But I wanna go out there!" The child exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement.

"And you will, as soon as I get everything and the sunscreen sinks in." She told him, tossing the tube of sunscreen back into her giant bag-purse with the towels and their change of clothes before picking up said bag. She stuffed the couple boxes of granola bars and water bottles into the bag before turning to Luciano, who was watching the waves crash onto the sand and recede to perform the same motion over and over again. "Alright Bambino, but if you get sunburnt, it's your own fault."

Luciano just grinned, reminding Ashlynn of Venus, causing her to roll her eyes as she held her hand out for Luciano's. The little boy took his mother's hand and they made they're way across the sand towards the water. Stopping a good distance away from the tide, Ashlynn rummaged through her bag and pulled out a sheet and with Luciano's help, she spread it across the sand and set her bag in the center of it. Kicking her flip flips off onto the towel, Ashlynn picked the sunscreen up once more and pulled off her tank top.

"Alright kiddo, you need to put this on my back before we go out any farther." She said, sitting down and handing the bottle to Luciano.

"Ok Mamma!" He said excitedly as he took the bottle and applied said sunscreen to Ashlynn's back like she'd done to him. "All done!"

Ashlynn laughed softly as she stood up. "Alright, come on bambino. You stay close to me and don't go out any farther than I tell you, understand."

"Yes Mamma!" The bouncing ball of joy that was her son exclaimed.

She led him out to the edge of the tide, smiling at the familiar feeling of the water running over her feet, smiling wider as she heard Luciano giggle happily. Her anger at Dom was forgotten for the time being, she wasn't going to let it ruin the happy mood her son's happiness had given her. She slowly led him further into the tide, it was now nearly rushing up to Luciano's knees while it was only about half way up her calves.

"Stay right here Bambino." She told him, letting go of his hand and following the tide out, quickly crouching and scooping up and handful of soaking wet sand before running, more like limping fast, back up to Luciano so as to not get dragged out by the incoming wave.

"Why did you do that Mamma?"

Ashlynn smiled, crouching again, letting the rushing water run over her sand filled hand, letting the water take the little grains with it, leaving behind a white-ish circle.

"What is that?" Luciano asked.

"This, is a sand dollar." She told him, holding it out to him.

The young boy took it in his hands in slight awed wonder. "It's pretty."

"Yes it is. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can find the ones that are still alive."

"Alive?"

"Yeah. And sometimes, you can even find sand crabs, but they're sneaky little things." She told him with a smile.

"Can we find them?" He asked excitedly.

"We can sure try."

And for the next hour and a half, that's what they did, searched for sand crabs and sand dollars, getting soaked in the process. By the time they took a break, the two of them had quite the shell collection going and had about ten and a half sand dollars, three of which were still living, and they'd managed to find and release a few sand crabs, which had delighted Luciano greatly.

"Here Bambino," Ashlynn said as she handed him one of the towels before peeling off her shorts, leaving her in just her bikini, effectively exposing her bruised hip, and grabbing the other towel for herself.

After drying themselves off, they situated themselves on the sheet, Ashlynn with her towel covering her back and shoulders, so as to keep that area from getting burnt, and Luciano mimicked her with a grin.

"Here, eat some of these." She said, opening the box of chocolate chip granola and handing a couple of them to Luciano before opening a water bottle and handing that too him as well.

"Grazie Mamma."

"Benvenuti Bambino." She said, eating a few of the granola bars for herself and downing half of one of the other water bottles.

They sat there for about fifteen to twenty minutes, just eating and listening to the sound of the ocean when a small group of people came up to them.

"Uhm, hi, this is probably a little strange, but we were kind of watching you and I wanted to come over and tell you that I think your little brother is really cute." One of the girls said.

"He's not my little brother." Ashlynn told the girl, taking a drink of water as she stared at the bottle blonde.

"Then is he some kid you watch?" Asked the only guy that Ashlynn could see from where she was sitting.

Ashlynn scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No, he's not just some kid I watch. He's-"

"He's her son." Came a male voice from behind her. A voice she was hoping to never have to hear again.

"How do you know that dude?" The one visible guy asked.

"Because he knows me." Ashlynn said, standing up and turning to face the familiar person. "Hello Marcos."

"Ash, babe, it's been a while."

"Yes, yes it has. Haven't seen you since graduation. Not that I really saw much of you before that though." She said, glaring at the smile on his face.

The group of people watched, confused as to what was going on, as Luciano stood slightly behind Ashlynn, his hand grasping the towel that was still draped around her.

"What brings you to Los Angeles?" Marcos asked, brushing his black hair out of his face.

"Family." She answered shortly.

"Family, huh?"

"That's what I said isn't it?"

"No need to be snarky."

"Snarky? I'm not being snarky."

"Then what do you call it?"

"Annoyed, pissed, unhappy." Ignoring him now, Ashlynn turned her attention to Luciano. "C'mon Bambino. Time to go."

"So, what, you're just going to leave now?" Marcos asked, his dark brown eyes following her movements as she gathered everything and put it in her bag, slipping her flip flops back on and using the sheet as a makeshift bag for the collection of shells and sand dollars.

"Yeah, I'm going to visit my family. Introduce them to my son, since I was unable to when he was born."

"Don't you mean _our_ son?" Marcos asked with a smirk. This was so unlike him, he never acted like this before Luciano had been born.

"Ah, no, if I meant that, I would have said that. I meant _my_, so I said _my_. Because that's what he is, he's _my_ son. Not ours, not yours, mine." She said before hefting her bag up on her towel covered shoulder and taking Luciano's hand in hers and walking off.

Unfortunately, Marcos and his groupies followed.

"Actually, I do believe he's _our_ son, seeing as you couldn't have created him by yourself." Marcos said smugly.

"No, Marcos." Ashlynn said, stopping near her car and turning to face him. "He's _mine_. You weren't even in the delivery room, Venus and Silver were. You weren't there to hear his first cries, you weren't there to hold him after I did, you weren't the one getting me through the labor pains, my _friends_ were. You might as well be a faceless sperm donor, because you wanted nothing to do with _my_ son during his birth and after. You left us, so, guess what, I don't want you in my life or his."

Marcos glared and before she knew what was happening, she was looking at her car and there was a pain in the left side of her face.

"Did you just hit me?" She asked, rubbing her cheek as she turned her head back to look at him.

"What are you going to do about it?" He asked with a smirk.

"First, I'm going to ask if you know who Vincent Castello, Leticia Ortiz, and Dominic Toretto are."

"Toretto, huh?"

"Yeah, you know, as in, the same last name as mine."

"Those names sound familiar."

"Next I'm going to ask if you know who Johnny Tran is."

"Tran? Yeah, I know him."

"And I'm sure you remember Silver and Venus. So now, I'm going to tell you that Dominic Toretto is my cousin, Leticia Ortiz is his girlfriend, and Vincent Castello is his best friend. And Johnny, well, he's an old friend of mine. So, when they see this bruise forming on my face, what do you think they're going to do?"

Marcos just stared blankly at her as the black haired girl of the group stared at her with wide eyes.

"Dude, Toretto went to Lompoc!" She exclaimed.

"That's right." Ashlynn said. "Congratulations, give the girl a prize." Turning her attention back to Marcos, she raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you think they're gonna do, huh?"

"If they do anything, I'll sue them for assault." Marcos told her smugly.

"Mmm, you'll be lucky if there's any part of you still intact when they get done with you." Ashlynn said with a fake 'oh damn' expression on her face. "I mean, Venus already wants to kill you for walking out on me and my son, Silver would probably be content just castrating you, but my family, well, they're really protective, so who knows what they'll end up doing to you."

"Is that a threat?"

"Nope. Just a friendly warning. Ta now."

And with that, Ashlynn led Luciano to her car and quickly unlocked the door and ushered the boy into the back seat before sliding in herself. Once they were both situated, Ashlynn started the car and waved to Marcos and his groupies before she took off.

"Mamma?"

"Yes Bambino?"

"Who was that?"

"That, my beautiful Bambino, was your father."

"I don't like him."

Ashlynn laughed softly as she navigated through the barely familiar streets. "Me neither."

"I don't look like him."

"Not really, no."

"Are we going to meet more people?"

"Yes, we're going to meet the family. You know, the ones you keep pestering me about." She teased.

"Well, you always told me we'd meet them, but we never did!" The boy protested in his defense.

"I know Bambino, I know."

Ashlynn smiled as she made the last turn and parked next to Jesse's Jetta and cutting the engine before grabbing her bag and handing Luciano his change of clothes.

"Change under the towel Bambino." She told him before pulling her sweats on, with some difficulty, around the steering wheel and pulling her tank top back on.

"I'm ready, Mamma." Luciano said as Ashlynn pulled a mini brush out of the glove box.

"Alright Bambino. Let's go." She said, getting out of the car, grabbing her jacket, wallet, phone, and keys, locking and closing the door once Luciano was out.

Ashlynn led Luciano towards the store and poked her head in to see who was currently gathered in said store. She smiled when she saw only Mia, with her back turned. Picking Luciano up, Ahlynn quickly and quietly made her way to the counter, where she sat on one of the stools with Luciano in her lap and put a finger to her lips for him to be quiet. She smiled as he nodded, looking confused, before turning her attention back to Mia, just staring at the girl. She was rewarded a few minutes later when the slightly older girl turned around, a curious look on her face before she registered just who was sitting in front of her and screamed in surprise, drawing the attention of everyone from the garage as Ashlynn began laughing, hard.

"Oh, Mia… Hahah, you should've…. Oh, the look on your face!" She said between laughs.

"It's not funny Ashlynn! You scared the shit out of me!" Mia practically yelled.

"Mamma, she said that word." Luciano spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to the little boy sitting on Ashlynn's lap.

"Yes, yes she did. And what have I told you about that word?" Ashlynn asked, looking down at her son.

"That it's a bad word and I had better not say it until I'm older. Or you'll wash my mouth with soap." Luciano recited.

"That's right Bambino." She told him with a proud smile. "And if she had noticed you, she probably wouldn't have used it."

"Ohmigosh!" Mia exclaimed as she took in the appearance of the little boy; his black hair still damp from the beach, his steel gray eyes shining nervously. "He's so cute! He's like a mini you!"

"Let's hope not." Dom and Vince mumbled at the same time, the team all coming up to surround the counter.

"Hey! I wasn't that bad!" Ashlynn pouted, sticking her tongue out childishly at the two before beginning to brush her hair with the small brush.

"Girl, what happened to your face?" Letty asked as she watched Ashlynn.

"Run in with my ex." She mumbled, continuing to brush her hair, pulling the hair band from it as she felt everyone's eyes rove over her left cheek.

"He hit you?" Dom asked, his voice dangerously soft.

"Sì! L'uomo medio ha colpito la Mamma!" Luciano exclaimed. "Non mi piace."

"Non mi piace neanche lui." Dom told the little boy with a crooked grin that Ashlynn was sure only he could pull off.

"Lui è un uomo cattivo." Luciano said, crossing his arms.

"Sono d'accordo." Dom said, beaming at the boy.

"And you got mad at me." Ashlynn muttered, glaring half-heartedly at Dom.

"Perché?" Luciano asked, looking up at Dom and the Ashlynn.

"Perché ho avuto un bambino prima di lui." Ashlynn said with a small smile down at Luciano.

"For those of us that don't speak Italian, us being me and Leon mostly, what are you saying?" Jesse asked, looking quite confused.

"The kid was saying how he doesn't like Baby Girl's ex 'cause he's a mean, bad man that hit her, Dom agreed, and then the kid wanted to know why Dom got mad and Ash told him it was 'cause she had a baby before Dom did." Vince translated.

"You know, I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at one time." Ashlynn said, staring at Vince thoughtfully.

"Ha ha, you're so funny."

"No, I'm serious." She said straight-faced, causing everyone but Vince to laugh. "Anyways, Luciano, this is our family, Dom, Mia, Vince, Letty, Leon, and Jesse." She pointed to each of them in turn. "Everyone, this is my Bambino, Luciano."

"Who's he?" Luciano asked, pointing to a blonde man who seemed to have popped up out of nowhere.

"That is Brian. He's new. Ish." Ashlynn told him, causing Dom to chuckle. "Something tells me he's here to either work on the piece of junk he brought in about a month ago, or take Mia out for dinner. Or possibly both."

"That piece of junk isn't a piece of junk anymore." Brian defended good-naturedly.

"That so?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

"He's telling the truth, it's a-freaking-mazing." Jesse said, his eyes alight with what Ashlynn interpreted as giddiness.

"I dunno, I mean, I saw that thing when he brought it in, it was a real piece of work." She said, mock doubtfulness in her voice.

"C'mon then, we'll show you." Jesse said with a smile.

"Alright." Ashlynn said, pulling her hair up into a messy bun, putting the brush in one of her jacket pockets before she stood up, Luciano on her right hip as she stretched the left one before following after Jesse with a limp, the rest of the team, and Brian, following after them.

Ashlynn stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the bright orange car before her in awe. "No way. There's no way that that is the same piece of junk he brought in before I left."

"But it is."

"You guys must make quite a bit of money for body repair and paint jobs if you guys are this good." Ashlynn said, glancing from the car to the team as she walked around it, surveying it, hitching Luciano higher on her hip, as he'd begun to slip. "I know V did."

"No he didn't." Dom spoke.

"No, not Vince, Venus. My other V." Ashlynn said with a grin. "She did most, if not all, of the paint for all of our cars."

"Isn't she here with you?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, she and S are down here too. You'll meet them at Race Wars, possibly before." Ashlynn said, still looking at the car, not completely convinced it was the same car, especially when Jesse popped the hood. "You guys may not get along well, just a fair warning."

"You said she did the paint for all of your cars?" Letty asked.

"Yeah, she's killer with detail when given enough time. She was quite meticulous with her car. It came out totally awesome." Ashlynn said, finally looking away from the repaired car.

"What's yours look like?"

"It's out front. Next to the Jetta." Ashlynn told her. "You're all welcome to go look at it."

With that being said, Ashlynn and the team all walked out of the bay doors and out to the front of the store where her Cheshire car sat, its appearance shocking the team as Ashlynn smiled.

"That's definitely a car you can't miss." Vince said, his head tilted slightly.

"Yeah." Leon muttered. "Speaking of cars you can't miss, I saw a car right before I got back here that I've never seen before in town. I assume it was one of your friends." The last bit directed towards Ashlynn.

"Uhm, yeah, most likely. Was it a Honda Acura RSX Type S?" She asked, looking over at Leon.

"Yeah, it had a wicked purple dragon design on it." He said with a nod.

"Yeah, that's V's car, it's one of her babies." Ashlynn said with a smile.

"Tran was with her."

"I know."

"You know?" Dom's voice was edged with a sharpness as he spoke.

"Yeah, I know." Ashlynn said, turning to look at Dom, eyebrow raised, daring him to say anything about it.

"They looked like they were getting pretty cozy walking out of the Lollicup together." Leon said, glancing between Dom and Ashlynn.

Ashlynn turned her attention to Leon. "Lollicup? Mmm, now I want Lollicup."

"Cozy?" Vince asked, raising an eyebrow. "Since when do you use the word cozy?"

"Since it fit's the description." Leon told the larger man.

"Cozy how?" Mia piped in.

"Sharing the same drink, he didn't even take the cup from her as he took a sip. She was blushing pretty dark too." Leon said as he thought back on it.

"Awe, my V is growing up!" Ashlynn squeed with a smile as she shifted Luciano to her left hip, hissing softly.

The team all raised eyebrows at her, wondering what caused her to hiss. Seriously, did everyone forget that she told them she got kicked by a horse?

"What?" She asked, staring at them strangely.

"You ok girl?" Letty asked.

"Yeah, got kicked by a horse yesterday, remember?"

They all had dawning looks of recognition.

"Yeah."

"How bad is it?" Jesse asked, concern flickering across his face.

"Pretty bad."

"Can we see it?" Letty asked.

"Uh, I guess." Ashlynn replied. "Can we go back inside though?"

There was a chorus of various affirmative answers before they all went back into the store. Ashlynn set Luciano down on one of the stools and stretched her back and legs before turning her attention to the team. They were all watching her like hawks watching their prey as she slid the left side of her waistband down to reveal the whole bruise, the top of it rest just below her bikini bottom. The bruise was about four to four and a half inches in diameter and there were some areas that had scabbed over, not that you could see said areas very well due to the dark coloring of the bruise.

Brian whistled. "Damn, that looks bad."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad, I told you." She said as she pulled the waistband back up. "But it doesn't hurt too bad, just if someone touches it. And if I sit for too long of a period of time it gets tight. It could be worse."

"How?" Vince asked skeptically.

"Could have broken my hip."

"That's true."

"So, anyways, what _are_ you doing here?" Ashlynn asked, turning her attention to Brian.

"Dom and I are taking the piece of junk car for a final test run." Brian told her.

"Oooh, I see." She said with a small smile.

"Yeah, so, we're going to head out and we'll see you later." Dom said, kissing Letty softly and ruffling Ashlynn's hair before going into the garage with Brian and leaving moments later.

"So, how long are you here for?" Mia asked.

"Well, it's what, about two o'clock?" Ashlynn said, pulling her phone out to look at it. "Dinner will probably be at five again, so I'm here until about four thirty-ish?"

"So, how're they treating you in the Tran household?" Letty asked.

"Like family." Ashlynn answered, sitting down between Jesse and Luciano. "I mean, I seem to be the only person who remembers that Johnny was a good friend of ours before I was dragged away."

Vince scoffed. "After you left Baby Girl, everything kinda fell apart."

"So I'm noticing." She mumbled.

"Mamma?" Luciano said, tugging on her jacket sleeve. "I'm hungry."

Ashlynn smiled. "You're always hungry Bambino. What do you want?"

Luciano looked thoughtful for a moment, aware that everyone was watching him, causing him to blush lightly. "Can I have tuna?"

"That depends," Ashlynn replied, turning to look at Mia. "You guys still serve tuna?"

"Yeah, the only person that likes it is Brian though." Mia replied.

"Don't worry about it, Luc just likes tuna." Ashlynn told her with a soft smile. "A lot."

"Alright." And with that, Mia made the boy a tuna sandwich and cut in in half diagonally and placed the plate in front of his with a smile, grabbing a back of chips and a bottle of juice. "There you go kiddo."

"Grazie!" Luciano exclaimed, digging into the food set before him, causing Mia and Ashlynn to laugh.

"He's cute." Jesse said with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah he is." Ashlynn agreed, reaching out to smooth the young boy's messy hair out of his face, wincing as she smiled, causing her jaw to twinge in pain.

"That looks like it hurts." Letty said, reaching over and brushing her fingers across the younger girl's face.

"Yeah, kinda does." Ashlynn affirmed. "It was weird though…"

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked curiously.

"Well, like, when he and I were friends before we started dating, he was really nice and polite, complete gentleman, like out of a novel or something. When we started dating, he was like that even more so, and it was nice. I mean, I can't count the number of times he'd bring me coffee or cookies, the roses were a bit overkill, but it was sweet, at the time. But then, after I got pregnant, he slowly stopped being that way; I mean, he'd still be a gentleman and stuff, but it was kinda like he was only doing it because he had to or something. And then Luciano was born…" She trailed off, looking over at her son, who was still busily munching on his food, not paying attention to the adults around him. "He wasn't in the delivery room with me, I don't even think he was in the hospital at all. Venus and Silver were with me, and I should have known then that he wanted nothing to do with us…but he was there for three months before he just walked out, began ignoring me and crap. I was broke for a little while there, but I'm good now." She paused again. "I haven't seen him since graduation two years ago and so, when I heard his voice, I was really surprised, but I was pissed too. I took my anger out on him, which he totally deserved, I pissed him off and when he hit me, well, I was shocked. I never would have thought he'd do something like that."

"What did you say that pissed him off?" Mia asked.

"I told him that he might as well have been a faceless sperm donor, for the fact that he wanted nothing to do with me and my son." Ashlynn told them proudly. "Told him Luciano was _my_ son, not his, not ours, but _mine_. And as you can see, he didn't take that too well."

"Poi la Mamma gli ha detto che tutto sarebbe probabilmente ucciso per picchiarla." Luciano piped up, causing the adults to look at him in surprise as he drank his juice. They hadn't realized he'd been listening.

"You told him we'd probably kill him?" Vince asked, eyebrows raised.

"Not quite in those terms, but yeah." Ashlynn confirmed. "I mean, I know you and Dom were brought up to never hit a woman and I know it pisses you both off when you see it happen. And Letty, well, 'nough said there." Ashlynn paused with a grin. "So, I might have said that between you guys and Johnny, Venus, and Silver, that he'd be lucky if there was enough of him left intact to press assault charges like he threatened to."

"Credo che la Mammalo spaventava." Luciano muttered.

"I'm sure I did scare him Bambino, but I'm also sure that he didn't take me seriously." Ashlynn scoffed, stealing one of Luciano's chips.

"Well, he better. Otherwise, he will end up dead." Vince mumbled.

"Mmm, I'm sure." Ashlynn muttered, leaning her head on Jesse's shoulder, smiling when he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"So, what's it like where you live?" Mia asked.

"Well, the house is a bit out of the way to get too from town, but it's really nice. Quiet, usually." She replied. "The house is pretty big, there's a lot of land. Which is good for V, 'cause she loves horses, and as much as she hates most kids, she teaches them. And the garage and work shed are pretty big too, so that's pretty amazing. I converted one of the larger bedrooms into a dance studio and I teach kids ballet and stuff. And Silver uses the actual studio to teach kids art."

"That sounds amazing." Mia said with a dreamy expression on her face.

"It is. And you'll get to see it soon, I hope." Ashlynn said with a smile.

"I hope so too!" Mia cried joyously.

Ashlynn just smiled and listened as they all began talking about visiting her house, even Luciano was talking, in English this time. She was glad, it meant he was becoming less nervous around everyone. And for the next hour or so, she was happy knowing the her son would grow up knowing family.

"Grr, time to go." She mumbled, sitting up reluctantly.

"Do we have to Mamma?"

"Yes Bambino, but don't worry, you'll get to see them soon."

Sighing softly to herself, Ashlynn stood and stretched her leg, hissing softly as her muscles didn't want to cooperate with her. Luciano hopped down as Ashlynn put money down on the counter to pay for Luciano's food.

"You don't have to do that." Mia told her.

"Oh yes I do."

"Dom won't accept it."

"What Dom doesn't know won't hurt him." Ashlynn said with a smile before she hugged Mia over the counter before turning to Vince and giving him a hug as well. She then turned her attention to Letty and smiled as the older girl gave her a look that told her to not even try it, but she did anyway. "You know you love me." Ashlynn told her with a laugh as she let go of Letty and hugged Leon. "It was good to see you again."

"Likewise." He told her with a smile.

Ashlynn smiled as she turned to Jesse and took his hand in hers and Luciano's in the other, they boy waving to everyone, and walked out of the shop to her car. She had Luciano get in the back seat and buckle up before turning her attention back to Jesse.

"So, we'll be seeing you at Race Wars?" Jesse asked softly.

"Definitely." She told him with a smile. "And then, you'll all be coming up to my house and staying there for a bit."

"Sounds good, I'd like that."

"Me too." She told him softly as she wrapped her arms around him and kissing him softly. "But for now I have to go."

"Alright." He said softly, kissing her again. "See you soon."

"Bye for now Jesse." And with that she got in her car and situated herself before speeding off, honking the horn as she left.

"I like them, Mamma." Luciano told her, breaking the silence that had settled in the car.

"Yeah?" She asked, turning into the street that led up to Johnny's house.

"Yeah!"

"Good. They like you too."

Ashlynn smiled as she saw Luciano blush in the rear view mirror and pulled up into the drive way where she saw Venus' car, Venus and Johnny still in said car. As she cut the engine, Ashlynn saw Venus dart out of her car and into the house as Johnny scrambled to get out of the passenger seat.

"What the fuck did you do Johnny?" She snapped as she slid out of her car, ignoring the fact that Luciano was in the backseat still.

"I didn't do anything!" Johnny defended.

"Well, what happened?" Ashlynn growled.

"She told me what happened to her family and what her name was and before I could say anything, she's out of the car. I think she was crying."

"Crying? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Shit… She hasn't cried since…she hasn't cried in a very long time." Ashlynn turned back to her car, where Luciano was still getting out. "Alright, Luciano, you're going to stay with Johnny alright?" She grabbed her things and led Luciano over to Johnny before going into the house, slipping her sandals off before hurrying up the stairs, vaguely hearing Johnny and Luciano come in and shut the front door behind her.

"Venus?" She called softly through the door.

"Go away!" Was the muffled reply.

"No." Ashlynn said as she opened the door. "You know, if you want to keep people out, you should try locking the door."

"Shut up Ash." Venus grumbled, throwing one of the pillows at the long haired girl.

"What's wrong V?" Ashlynn asked as she sidestepped the pillow and closed the door behind her before making her way to the bed where Venus sat, curled in a ball.

"I don't know!" The smaller girl sniffled. "I told him what happened, but then I couldn't look at him. I didn't want to see the pity."

"He won't pity you V," Ashlynn said, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. "He's worried about you though, he was freaking out, didn't know what to do when you took off running in here."

"Really?" Venus sniffled again, looking at Ashlynn.

"Yeah. I was about ready to beat him into the ground 'cause I thought he did something."

Venus cracked a small smile before frowning again. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to your face?"

"Oh, haha, funny thing about that-"

"Stop stalling, what happened."

"Marcos happened."

"He's here?"

"I was surprised too."

"What happened?"

"I pissed him off and he hit me, but it's all good. He should think twice about doing it again."

"Why?"

"'Cause you know, the team knows, Johnny's gonna know, and Silver's gonna know. I know how protective you all are. And I told him as much."

"Oh, yeah. That would probably make anyone think twice. Or it should anyway." Venus said matter-of-factly.

"C'mon, let's go-"

She cut off at the sound of a large bang and she and V glanced at each other before darting out of the room to see what was going on. The sight that greeted them at the bottom of the stairs was not a nice one. SWAT had busted the door down and were trying to take Johnny. The only complication? Luciano wouldn't let go of his leg and it was infuriating one of the officers. Said officer grabbed on of Luciano's arms and yanked him away, causing the little boy to scream as a loud pop filled the air. Ashlynn was angry as she ran towards the officer, only to be caught by another one, which she struggled against.

"Let me go! He hurt my son!" The noise that had been going on suddenly stopped at what she said, everyone but her and Luciano seemed to freeze. "Let me go! My baby is hurt!"

Instead of being let go, the officer restraining her took her over to where Luciano was crumpled on the ground crying before letting her go and standing in front of her so as to keep her from attacking the officer that hurt her son.

"Bambino, Mamma è qui, ho te.(Baby, Mamma is here, I've got you.)" She whispered to him as he cried.

"Fa male, fa male, Mamma fa male davvero.(It hurts, it hurts, Mamma it really hurts.)" He cried.

"I know baby, I know it hurts…" She whispered as she cradled him to her, careful of the boy's right side.

Quickly gathering themselves, the officers began to haul Johnny out the doors, causing Venus to flip out and result in being restrained by yet another officer. Silence rang through the house as Johnny's father slapped him before allowing the officers to take his son.

"O'Conner!" Ashlynn yelled as they all filed out of the house. Said officer tensed and stopped, turning to face the kneeling woman. "You better tell your superiors I'd like a word with them. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

He stared at her a few moments before nodding and following out after the rest of the officers, leaving the family alone.

"What the hell was that?" Venus cried angrily.

"They arrested him because they think that he's behind the truck heists." Ashlynn murmured as she stood, bringing Luciano with her. "I have to get him to a hospital." And with that, Ashlynn too was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

So, this is my longest chapter so far. And hopefully it's awesome and doesn't seem too rushed or anything.

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything from the original storyline, just the tweaks on it and the characters not found in the movie(s)**

So, I hope you enjoy, and once again, this chapter is dedicated to Venus, who will probably bust up laughing.**  
**

Race Wars is coming very soon!

On with the story...

Fast and the Furious 10

She had been in the emergency room for three hours before someone could see her son and she was beyond pissed. Then it was another hour and half of dealing with idiot nurses and doctors and screwy x-rays before they could tell her that not only had the boy's shoulder been dislocated, but there was a hairline fracture on his radial (in the forearm) bone as well. Great, just freaking great. They told her they were sure he'd be fine if her just took it easy and relaxed, nothing too strenuous, but just to be safe, they were going to put a cast on him. Fine. He also had a pretty bad gash on the left side of his forehead from where his head hit the ground that she hadn't noticed, but the assured her that he did not have a concussion and stitched him up. Soon as the plaster of the cast was dry enough, they were ready to go. Except, Ashlynn had to explain how this happened to her son.

"You want to know what happened?"

"Yes, ma'am, we need to know for legal purposes."

"Well, you won't believe me, but SWAT came into the house of the family friend I'm staying with, my son was scared out of his mind and holding onto the leg of the person they were trying to take. He wouldn't let go and it pissed off one of the officers and instead of calmly trying to get him to let go or have me come get him, the officer grabs my son by his arm and rips him off of my friend. Next sound I hear is a loud pop and my son is on the ground screaming."

The doctor looked at her wide eyed, not sure if he should believe what she was telling him, but the anger in her eyes kept him from making a comment about it. He just nodded and wrote down what she had told him.

"Is that all?" Ashlynn asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes, I believe that's all."

"Good, now, I need a copy of everything you have on record about my son."

"May I ask why?"

Ashlynn stared blankly at the doctor. "So that I can take it to the police department in the morning and figure out which one of the officers I'm going to get to pay for the damage he cause my son."

"We normally don't do that."

"I know, and unless you want me to sue this hospital for lack of cooperation for legal matters, you will make me a copy of everything you've recorded about my son."

The doctor looked frightened before he nodded. "Yes ma'am." And with that he scurried off.

"Mamma…" Luciano called sleepily from where he sat on the examination table.

"Yes Bambino?" She asked walking over to him.

"I'm hungry, and tired." He mumbled.

"I know, me too Bambino." She said, wrapping her arms around him, hugging him close, pressing a kiss to the top of the boy's head.

"When can we leave?"

"As soon as the doctor gets back with the paperwork I asked for."

Luciano was dozing against Ashlynn when the doctor came back ten minutes later with copies of everything.

"There's a set of x-rays there too." The doctor told her softly as she took the folder from him.

"Thank you." She said as she carefully put the folder into her purse, trying not to wake Luciano. "If that's all, I'd like to be going now."

The doctor nodded, "Yes, of course."

Ashlynn nodded and gently picked Luciano up and left the room, walking down the halls and out of the hospital.

"Mamma?" Luciano asked groggily.

"Hmmm?"

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure yet." She told him as she unlocked the car door. "In you go baby."

Sluggishly, Luciano got into the backseat and Ashlynn made sure he was buckled in before getting in and situating herself. She grabbed her phone and sent a text to Jesse.

'Hey, are you guys all still up?'

'Yeah, why? What's up?'

'Luc and I just got out of the ER and I don't feel like going back to Johnny's. Was hoping we could maybe crash there.'

'Dom says you're always welcome. What happened?'

'I'll explain when we get there.'

'Alright, see you soon.'

'Yeah.'

Sighing softly, she glanced back at Luciano, who had dozed back off. Her poor baby.

'Hey, V. I'm gonna take Luc to Dom's. Gonna crash there tonight.'

'Why?'

'Cuz it's closer.'

'You want me and S to come?'

'No, stay there, especially incase Johnny gets back tonight or in the morning, let me know what happens, ok?'

'Yeah, sure. You got it. Be careful, yeah?'

'Yeah, I'll be careful. Let S know what's going on, yeah?'

'Got it.'

'Thanks V.'

'Course Ash.'

And with that, Ashlynn started the car and took off to Dom's home. It took her about fifteen minutes to make the normally twenty-five to thirty minute trip, especially since there was minimal traffic. When she arrived, the outside light was on, as was the living room lights. Ashlynn got out and gently woke Luciano enough for him to help her get him out of the car.

"Come on Bambino. Let's get you inside." She said softly, locking and closing her door before walking up to the house and knocking softly on the front door.

Seconds later, the door opened to reveal a worried Dom and he let her in, closing the door behind her before directing her into the kitchen where the rest of the team sat, worried looks on their faces as well.

"What happened?" Mia asked as she looked at the cast on the boy's arm.

"SWAT happened." Ashlynn muttered angrily as she sat down, causing Luciano to wake slightly.

"Mamma?"

"Hmmm?"

"Where are we?"

"We're at Dom's house."

"Ok," He paused and yawned widely. "Mamma?"

"Yes baby?"

"I'm hungry."

Ashlynn smiled softly, vaguely aware of Mia getting up from the table. "I know."

"Here. They're leftovers from earlier." Mia said as she placed a plate of barbequed chicken on the table along with some pasta salad and fruit salad, as well as a bottle of water.

"Thanks Mia." Ashlynn said softly as the girl placed an empty plate in front of her. Turning her attention back to Luciano, she brushed his bangs out of his face, causing the stitches to become visible and she frowned softly. "You want some chicken Bambino?" She whispered to him. He just nodded. "Alright." With that said, she grabbed a piece of chicken and put it on the empty plate and scooped some of the pasta and fruit onto the plate as well. "You gotta wake up some more to eat baby."

"I'm awake," He mumbled and Ashlynn smiled softly before shredding some of the chicken for him.

"Here baby." She said softly, spearing some of the chicken and holding it to his mouth.

Luciano didn't protest as he normally would have at having his mother feed him. He just ate and Ashlynn would take a bite every now and then as the team watched the two of them curiously. When Luciano deemed himself full, he curled up against Ashlynn, his head resting on her chest, listening to her heart beat and she stroked his hair until he fell back to sleep. When he was fully asleep, Ashlynn turned her attention back to the team and sighed softly.

"So, what exactly happened?" Letty asked. "Everything was great when you guys left."

"Well," She began, taking a sip of water as she found her mouth becoming increasingly dry. "When we got back to Johnny's family's place Venus and Johnny were in her car, I assume they got there just minutes before we did and as soon as I cut the engine, I saw V go running into the house. I jumped on his case about it, ready to kick his ass, but he told me that she had told him her past and her real name." She paused to take a bite of the pasta. "So, I left Luc with Johnny and went upstairs to talk to Venus. She was crying. Which she hasn't done in a…very, very long time. So, I cheered her up a bit and we briefly talked about my run in with my ex and I was about to suggest we go down to dinner when everything went to hell." She sighed sadly and looked down at Luciano, holding him close to her, still being wary or his cast and stitches.

"And then what?" Vince asked softly.

"SWAT busted the door in and there was a lot of screaming and yelling. Venus and I darted out of her room and downstairs, I think S was behind us or in the dining room, but I didn't really notice." She paused, staring into space as she watched the scene replay in her head over and over, a tear falling from her eye. "All I noticed was that Luciano was latched onto Johnny's leg, he was so scared, he didn't know what was going on." Her voice shook as she continued. "One of the officers was getting frustrated 'cause Luc wouldn't let go, so, he grabbed Luc by the arm and ripped him off of Johnny's leg. Next thing I heard was a loud pop, my baby was on the floor screaming. I ran at the office that hurt him, but another one held me back. I remember yelling at the one holding me to let me go, that he hurt my baby. Everything seemed to stop, the officer restraining me took me over to Luc and acted like a shield so I couldn't get the officer who hurt him… He was crying so much, telling me over and over that it hurt. They hauled Johnny away and I told them that I'd be talking to their superiors about it and I wasn't taking no for an answer." She paused to eat more of the food left on the plate before continuing. "And so, I took Luc to the ER. Waited for three hours before he was seen to and there was nothing I could do to ease his pain or comfort him. I hadn't even noticed the blood on his face, I was so worried about his arm… We waited for another hour and half, roughly, for them to be able to tell me that not only had his shoulder been dislocated, but there's also a hairline fracture in his radial bone. Most likely from the amount of pressure the officer used when he pulled Luc away from Johnny. They stitched him up and told me that even though he'd probably be fine if he just took it easy for the next four or so weeks, they wanted to put a cast on him, So I agreed. And then they wanted to know how it happened, and then I got copies of all the records they made on Luc and I'm going to the police department in the morning. Either I'll sue the whole department or they'll find the one who hurt my son and he's going to pay the hospital bill or I'm going to sue him." She sighed softly, looking down at Luciano, who was sleeping peacefully in her lap, curled up against her.

"So who the hell narc'ed on Johnny and what for?" Dom mumbled.

Ashlynn just looked over at Dom and the two of them held a silent conversation for a few minutes, full of raising and scrunching of eyebrows head shaking and nodding, ending with Dom's eyebrows shooting up before furrowing together as his eyes narrowed. Ashlynn nodded.

"I see."

The rest of the team was looking at them like they were crzy.

"What are you going on about?" Leon asked.

"Don't worry about it." Dom murmured as Ashlynn polished off the food on the plate, scooping more pasta salad onto the plate and practically scarfing it down.

"Hungry much?" Letty asked.

Ashlynn blushed lightly. "I've only had a few granola bars to eat today, I didn't eat breakfast 'cause Luc and I went to the beach, ran into my ex, and then we went to the shop and I was preoccupied and didn't think to eat then, and then SWAT happened, so I didn't get to eat dinner." She muttered. "So, yeah, I'm hungry."

"Where are your friends at?" Jesse asked.

"They're still at Johnny's. They're gonna stay there tonight and maybe tomorrow. At least until Johnny gets back." Ashlynn said, downing the rest of the water in the bottle, smiling softly at Mia when the girl fetched another bottle for her.

"Are you gonna be alright Baby Girl?" Vince asked, watching her.

"Yeah, I'm gonna be fine. I think." She said tiredly. "I just, I haven't been in a hospital since my parents died and before that, I hadn't been in a hospital since Luc was born and I had hoped to never have to take him there… Not until he was at least seven or eight." The group nodded as she drank some of the water and finished the pasta salad on the plate.

"Well, you and your friends are always welcome here." Dom told her softly.

Ashlynn snorted. "You might want to hold off on extending that invitation to my friends. Remember, I said you probably wouldn't get along? I wasn't joking."

"Yeah, I remember, but they're your friends, so, you know."

Ashlynn smiled and nodded. "That's very nice, but right now, I'm super drained and I'd really like to just crash. The adrenaline has left my system, So I'm pretty freaking tired."

Dom chuckled. "Alright Baby Girl. Can you stand?"

"Uhm, yes?" She mumbled as she slowly stood, cradling Luciano to her as she did, swaying a bit, only to have Jesse stand up and steady her. Dom nodded at Jesse, who nodded back. See, everyone can have silent conversations sometimes. "Night everyone." Ashlynn mumbled, holding Luciano to her tightly, but not too tightly, as she let Jesse lead her upstairs. "Mmm, you smell good Jess."

He gave a small laugh, "Thanks?"

Ashlynn smiled sleepily. "Definitely a compliment."

"Well that's good then."

"Yeah… So, where am I crashing?"

"Where do you want to crash?"

"I'd really like to not be alone right now." She whispered softly.

"Alright, come on then." He said, leading her into his room.

"Thanks Jesse." She said softly as she laid Luciano in the middle of the bed before turning back to Jesse and wrapping her arms around him, silent tears beginning to fall down her face.

Jesse held her tight as tremors wracked through her body as she cried as the reality of everything sank in. "C'mon, let's get you in bed."

Ashlynn nodded, slipping her flip flops off and crawling into Jesse's bed, laying on her right side, her back to the door. Luciano snuggled close to her as Jesse shed his tshirt, leaving him in a wife beater top he changed into a pair of sweats before laying down on the other side of his bed, pulling the blanket up over the three of them.

"I love you Jesse," Ashlynn whispered to him sleepily.

He smiled softly. "I love you too Ashlynn."

When Ashlynn woke the next morning, Luciano wasn't between her and Jesse, or even in the room for that matter. She turned to Jesse groggily and nudged him.

"What's wrong babe?" He asked as he blinked up at her in concern.

"Jess, where's Luc?" She asked, worry lacing her voice.

"Mia took him downstairs about forty minutes ago." Jesse told her with a yawn. "I think he was up before that though, 'cause he was wide awake when Mia knocked on the door."

Yawning in response to Jesse's yawn, Ashlynn nodded and laid back down next to him. "How's it been since I was here?"

"Alright.." Jesse replied. "Usual stuff every day. Work, racing, partying sleeping, waking up and doing it all over again."

"I know the repetitive feeling." Ashlynn said with a smile, kissing Jesse softly.

"I'm liking the disruption of the repetitive life." He told her with a smile.

"Yeah, me too." She said, returning his smile. Giggling softly, slightly hysterically, as she added, "You know, except for having to take my son to the ER."

"Yeah, that's a definite downer…" Jesse said, wrapping his arms around Ashlynn, pulling her close. "You gonna be alright? You were pretty shook up last night."

"Yeah… I'm gonna be fine." She told him. "I just felt helpless, you know, I saw it happen, but it was like I couldn't move until after it happened. I hate feeling helpless like that."

"Yeah, it kinda sucks. A lot." Jesse said softly.

"Yeah." She mumbled with a soft laugh. "Mmm, I missed you."

"I missed you too."

The two laid together in silence, close to falling back to sleep when Jesse's door opened and Luciano shyly poked his head in.

"Mamma?" He called softly, unsure as to whether she was awake.

"Hmmm?"

"Auntie Venus keeps calling."

Groaning softly, Ashlynn pulled away from Jesse enough to roll onto her back and look at the door where Luciano was still standing, phone in hand.

"Alright, I'll call her Bambino." She said, holding her hand out towards him. "What are you and Mia up to?" She asked when he handed her the small phone.

"We're making pancakes!" The boy told her excitedly.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah!"

"You know, those are Auntie V's favorite."

"I know."

Ashlynn smiled at the grin on Luciano's face. "You're turning into Venus, I swear it."

Luciano giggled before leaving, presumably to go back downstairs and help Mia. Ashlynn smiled again, turning her attention to her phone as it started to vibrate.

"Yes Venus?" She said as she answered.

"What have you been doing that you haven't been answering my phone calls for the last hour and a half?" Venus' voice came from the other end.

Ashlynn snorted, glancing over at Jesse with a grin that caused him to raise an eyebrow curiously. "I was having hot, passionate sex with Jesse, which you interrupted by repeatedly calling, causing Luc to bring my phone into Jesse's room."

She laughed at the disgusted screech her response was given. "EW! REALLY? YOU COULDN'T HAVE JUST SAID YOU WERE BUSY?"

"And you wouldn't have pestered me, asking what I was so busy with?" Ashlynn asked knowingly.

There was a long pause on the other end before she was dignified with an answer. "Alright, so I probably would have pestered until I had details, but you didn't have to just outright say it like that."

Ashlynn rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"You don't know that I rolled my eyes."

"I know you Ash, I know you just rolled you eyes."

"Alright, I rolled my eyes. And, I was kidding about the sex. Seriously, what time is it?"

"Sure you were. It's almost eleven."

"I was kidding. I just woke up. Now, why have you been calling me for the last hour and a half?"

"Well, that would be because you asked my to keep you updated and Johnny got back about two hours or so ago. Dropped off by a police officer. And…" Venus trailed off and Ashlynn was sure the other girl was fidgeting.

"And what?"

"And I apologized and we talked for a few minutes and he kissed me!" Venus said, rushing through her sentence, making it sound like one word.

Ashlynn shot up, sitting straight. "Wait, WHAT?"

"No need to shit a brick Ash."

"No need?" Ashlynn asked her in disbelief. "You freaking APOLOGIZED, you never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, ever apologize unless you're being a sarcastic bitch. And he kissed you! That's a big deal!"

"It's not that big of a deal." Venus mumbled.

"Really?" Ashlynn drawled sarcastically. "When was the last time you dated V?"

"When we were seventeen."

"Exactly, three years ago V. You haven't let anyone who's flirted with you do more than _just_ flirt. So you can't tell me that this isn't a big deal."

"S didn't make this big of a deal out of it."

Ashlynn sighed. "I feel like S is drifting away from us V. It's not the same as it used to be."

"I guess you're right."

"Anyways, how is he?"

"He's alright, seemed annoyed, pissed, you know, kinda how anyone would feel after being arrested for something they didn't do."

"Yeah, that's understandable."

"Yeah."

"So what's going on now?"

"I dunno… His family seems kinda on edge, though, SWAT did break their door down last night."

"Yeah… He better have called Dom, otherwise he's in a lot of trouble with me."

"I'm sure he'll tell Dom about how you're paying his debt off."

"Hopefully not that bluntly. Dom's not gonna take that news happily. At all."

"Then why tell him?"

"'Cause, he deserves to know. And not telling him that would make it so much worse, it would be like not telling you that I ate the last chocolate bar in the house."

"What the hell does chocolate have to do with this?"

"You know how you get when you really want chocolate, but there's none in the house?"

"Duh."

"Well, that's how Dom's going to react…sort of."

"Whatever."

"Anyways, I've got to get my happy ass out of Jesse's bed and down to the police station where I hope to find someone with a decent amount of brain cells."

Venus snorted. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks V." Ashlynn muttered sarcastically. "Hey, I need you to do me a favor."

"And what's that?"

"Well, I need some clothes for me and Luc."

"And?"

Ashlynn rolled her eyes. "And I need you to bring them here."

"Why can't you come pick them up?"

"'Cause Luc is helping Mia make pancakes."

"Pancakes?"

"Yes, pancakes."

"I like pancakes."

"I can maybe talk Mia into making some extra, if you bring clothes for me and Luc."

Venus paused. "Alright, what do you need?"

"Something public appropriate, and deodorant and shit. And my make up."

"Kay, text me the directions and I'll be there soon."

"Thanks V. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, bye Ash."

"Bye V."

Immediately after she hung up, Ashlynn opened a text to Venus and went through the process of telling her how to get to the Toretto Fort.

"I guess that means we have to go downstairs now." Jesse said as he pushed himself up.

"Yeah, gotta let them know she's coming." Ashlynn mumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched before standing up, Jesse slowly following her lead.

The two of them walked hand in hand down the stairs and into the kitchen where Mia, Luc, Vince, and Leon were. Mia and Luc were at the counter, making pancakes like Luciano had excitedly told Ashlynn while Vince and Leon sat nursing cups of coffee.

"Morning," Ashlynn said softly, gaining everyone's attention and earning her and Jesse mumbled responses from Vince and Leon. Ashlynn walked over to the counter where Mia was doing most of the actual breakfast making. "Hey, Mia, you got enough there to feed an extra person?"

"I should, why?" Mia asked, looking up at Ashlynn curiously.

"I had to bribe my friend to bring clothes for me and Luc so I can go down to the police station. And I made the mistake of mentioning that you and Luc were making pancakes. They're her favorite." Ashlynn said with a mock annoyed look that caused Mia to laugh.

"Yeah, alright, there should be enough."

"Enough for what?" Dom's voice asked from the doorway as he and Letty entered.

"For Venus, I had to bribe her to get her to bring me and Luc clothes." Ashlynn said, turning to look at Dom with a smile as she leaned back against Jesse. "She should be here in about twenty ish minutes."

"Tran's place is like forty or so minutes away." Dom said, eyebrow raised.

Ashlynn matched his raised eyebrow with one of her own. "When has that stopped anyone from speeding?"

Dom let out a laugh and sat himself down at the table. "I'll give you that one."

Ashlynn smiled, sitting on Jesse's lap when he sat down, and everyone slid into their normal routine, including Ashlynn and Luciano as if they had been there all along. It felt nice. And true to her word, about twenty minutes later there was an impatient pounding on the door, just as Mia finished making breakfast.

"That's your girl then?" Dom asked rhetorically.

"Haha, yeah, that's V alright." Ashlynn said as she slid off of Jesse's lap and padded to the front door. She smiled as she opened the door to let the shorter girl in. "Hey V. Thanks for bringing this stuff." She said as she set the bag down and hugged the girl, whispering in her ear. "When you sit down at the table, don't grab for the food first."

"Why?" Venus asked quietly.

"Trust me, just don't."

"Whatever."

Ashlynn laughed, "C'mon, let's introduce you to the team."

Venus let herself be led into the kitchen where Luciano practically squealed in delight at the sight of her and ran at her.

"Auntie Venus!" He cried, launching himself at her.

"Hey squirt!" She said as she caught him, frowning at the stitches on his forehead and the cast on his arm. "How you feeling?"

"I'm okay!"

"That's good. Had to say, I was pretty worried about you." She said, before claming up as she noticed six pairs of eyes on her as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Venus, I'd like you to meet my family," Ashlynn began before pointing to each of them as she introduced them. "That's Dom, his girlfriend Letty, Dom's best friend Vince, then there's Leon and Jesse, and Mia's getting breakfast on the table for us." Ashlynn looked at the team. "Guys, this is Venus."

There were looks and a few mumbled greetings exchanged, but Ashlynn could see by the looks on Venus', Dom's, and Vince's faces that there were most likely going to be issues. She watched the looks on the team's faces as looked at her friend with varying calculating looks.

Ashlynn walked back over to Jesse and motioned for Venus to sit in either of the empty chairs on either side of the boy as she perched herself back on his lap.

"I'd have been here five or so minutes ago, but that O'Conner guy pulled me over." Venus told Ashlynn.

"What for?" More than just Ashlynn asked the question, but Venus didn't pay anyone else any mind.

"He said to tell you that he'll see you at the station after noon." Venus told her as she walked towards the table.

"Alright." Ashlynn said with a nod.

"So, you're the one with the sick Acura RSX?" Leon asked, breaking the awkward silence as Venus sat herself in the chair between him and Jesse, putting her at Jesse's left.

"Yeah." Venus answered shortly, letting Luciano sit on her lap as she set her purse down on the floor next to her.

Conversation was stalled when Mia asked what everyone wanted to drink. She got various answers of coffee, milk, and orange juice from everyone but Venus.

"Venus?" Mia asked. "Do you want milk?"

Ashlynn let out a laugh and Venus glared at the dark redhead.

"What's so funny?" Letty asked from where she sat on Dom's lap, an eyebrow raised.

"I don't like milk. At all." Venus muttered. "And Ash likes to poke fun at me for it."

"Uhm, why?" Jesse asked, glancing between the redhead he had his arms wrapped around and the pixie haired girl to his left.

"Because, she's just like Edo-kun, soon enough we're gonna have to have her fitted for automail…Or, prosthetic limbs anyway." Ashlynn rambled as if they all knew what she was talking about.

"What are you going on about Baby Girl?" Vince asked, his face full of confusion.

"It's an anime show that we heard about last month and checked it out. It's pretty interesting. But that's besides the point." Ashlynn said.

"And what's the point?"

"I don't remember." Ashlynn said with a grin. "Though, I do have to get to the police station today, so eating would be good. Venus and I will have orange juice, Mia."

"Alright." Mia muttered as she put a pitcher of said juice on the table between the two girls and taking the empty seat between Jesse and Vince.

Breakfast was a somewhat quiet affair after Vince broke down and grabbed food first and said grace and then they all dug in. There was light conversation, but the tension was so thick you'd need a chainsaw to even chip away at it. Venus was tense, but was acting like it didn't bother her, because, to be brutally honest, it probably didn't, she didn't care what they thought of her. Beyond the fact that they were Ashlynn's family, they were just people and she never was one to care about other people's opinions of her. After everyone finished with breakfast, Ashlynn helped with dishes and even coerced Venus into drying them.

"There's something about that O'Conner guy you're not telling me Ash." Venus mumbled as they walked into the living room.

"You don't want to know and it shouldn't effect you, so don't worry about it right now." Ashlynn told her. "How's S?"

"S is… S, you know how she can be." Venus mumbled moodily.

"That's a fair point." Ashlynn muttered. "So, you gonna head back to Johnny's?"

"Yeah, probably go get a Lollicup and head back there." Venus replied as they passed the team, who had spread out in the living room, to get to the door.

"How is Tran?" Vince asked, his smugness palpable in the air.

Venus turned to look at Vince with a dark look. "Quite annoyed." She stated as Ashlynn tried to calm her down. "Then again, I would be too seeing as he was interrogated for hours when it should have been you guys." She glanced at Mia and, only be polite, said "Thank you for breakfast."

And with that, Venus was gone.

"You had to push buttons?" Ashlynn asked, turning back to Vince as Venus sped off.

"How does she know Ash?" Dom asked tensely.

"Doesn't take a genius to figure it out really. Vince is holding his upper body stiffly and has a slight limp, probably from jumping from vehicle to vehicle. And you're all moving sluggishly, probably from have to move all the merchandise quickly, that's gonna do some wear and tear damage." Ashlynn said matter-of-factly as she picked up the bag Venus had brought for her. "And you know what?"

"What?" Dom asked, his face blank as he stared at Ashlynn.

"There's a reason it was Johnny who was narc'ed on and not you guys." She told them before holding her hand out to Luciano. "Think about it Dom."

And with that, she led Luciano upstairs and into the bathroom and got a bath ready for him. When he was situated in the bathtub, Ashlynn told him that if he needed anything to call for her and left the bathroom door ajar and stepped out into the hallway where Dom was standing.

"When you said there was a reason for it, what were you talking about?" He asked gruffly.

"What do you think I was talking about Dom?"

"Don't play games with me, Ashlynn."

"I'm not playing games, Dominic."

"Who's O'Conner?"

"Who's Spilner?

"Are you trying to tell me you're right about him?"

"I'm trying to get you to think about it Dom. Police have been on your ass for how long now? You're always the first name they think of when they get a whiff of a street race going down. You're the first person they look to take down. There's a reason you weren't the ones with SWAT coming into your home."

"What reason Ash?"

"Are you really that thick?"

"Just tell me Ashlynn."

"Figure it out Dominic." She told him as Luciano called for her. She walked back into the bathroom.

"I'm done Mamma." He told her as she walked through the door.

"Alright Bambino." She said, crouching down and pulling a towel from under the sink as Luciano unplugged the tub. "Get dried off and dressed while I take a shower Bambino." She told him, pulling his clothes out of the bag for him.

Twenty minutes later, Ashlynn and Luciano were walking out of the bathroom and Dom was still standing in the hallway, but he looked like he was thinking. Ashlynn and Luciano walked down the stairs and to the living room where only Vince, Jesse, and Leon sat.

"The hell are you wearing?" Vince asked as he noticed her.

"Clothing Venus considers public appropriate." Ashlynn said as she looked down and the formfitting black camisole with a white v neck over it, dark blue denim skinny jeans that looked as if they were painted on, and white stilettos that had been in the bag.

"It's hot." Letty said as she walked into the room from the kitchen. "You better get them for what they did to him." She added, nodding at Luciano who was wearing khaki shorts, a tank top with a checkered button up over it and tennis shoes.

"Oh, don't worry." Ashlynn said sing-song-ishly, a grin on her face. "I will."

With that said, she grabbed her keys from the table by the door and kissed Jesse's cheek, waving to everyone else as she and Luciano walked out the door.

"Oh," She paused and turned around to look at Letty. "Dom's upstairs. Looks like he's thinking."

"Better get up there before something bad happens." Letty said playfully before heading up the stairs, beer in hand as Ashlynn shut the door behind her.

Once situated in the car, Ashlynn double checked the Luciano was buckled and looked through her purse to make sure all the medical records were there before she started the car and took off towards the Los Angeles Police Station. The fifteen to twenty minute drive there was silent and when they arrived, Luciano wouldn't let go of Ashlynn's hand once he was out of the car. When they entered the building, Luciano practically attached himself to Ashlynn's leg and she shifted her purse onto her left shoulder before picking him up and placing him on her right hip and she walked up to what appeared to be a receptionist desk.

"What can I do for you?" The woman behind the desk absentmindedly asked.

"I'm looking for an Officer O'Conner." She told the older woman as she pulled her sunglasses off.

"What am I telling him you're here for?" The woman asked.

"Don't worry about it Liz, I'm right here." He spoke as he walked up. Turning his attention to Ashlynn, he motioned for her to follow him and she did as he led her through a couple sets of doors before being led into a conference room where two men were sitting. The two men watched her warily as she took the seat Brian offered her.

"Thanks Brian." She mumbled, placing her purse on the table and resituating Luciano on her lap. He looked at Ashlynn and then Brian, confusion clear on the young boy's face. "It's alright Bambino."

"Ms. Toretto?" One of the two other men spoke, bringing her attention to them both.

"Ashlynn." She corrected. "Ms. Toretto makes me sound like my mother."

"Alright, Ashlynn," He paused, glancing down at a paper in front of him. "You are here because of what happened to your son."

The way he spoke made Ashlynn raise an eyebrow, "I'm sensing a 'but' is about to be interjected into that sentence."

"But we'd like to ask you a few questions about your cousin." The other man, he looked older, higher up.

"Mmm, I see." She said coolly. "Well, then let's talk, first, we're going to address the fact that not only did your SWAT officers scare my son, one of them ripped him away from Johnny and dislocated his arm, as well as caused a hairline fracture in his forearm, and you'll notice the stitches on his forehead from where his head hit the ground." She paused and reached into her purse and pulled out the fill the doctor had given her and handed it to Brian. "And since I'm sure you'll want evidence of that, there it is, complete with x-rays showing the dislocation and fracture."

"And what would you like us to do about that?" The older of the two asked her condescendingly as Brian handed the folder over to the first man that had spoken to her after he'd looked through the folder.

"Well, first, don't talk to me like that. I may be younger than you, but you don't need to talk to me like I don't understand what's going on." Ashlynn stated calmly. "Second, you're going to find whichever one of your officers, I assume they're yours, since you seem to be the Fed here, and he's going to pay the medical bill or I'm going to sue him for more than just the medical bill. And if you don't find the officer that did it, I'm just going to sue the whole department, because, well, for one, I don't really like you guys, second, my son was a scared four year old, and third, that scared four year old was injured by one off your officers and you didn't do anything about it."

"This is a bunch of bullshit."

"Bilkins!" The other guy snapped.

"What Sergeant Tanner?" The man, Bilkins, snapped.

"I'd like to ask you to refrain from using that kind of language in front of my son." Ashlynn spoke calmly, but her eyes were ablaze with anger.

"I'm sorry about him," Sergeant Tanner apologized.

Ashlynn nodded, not taking her eyes off of Bilkins.

"Tell us what you know about your cousin." Bilkins demanded.

"Find the officer that hurt my son." Ashlynn leveled back.

Sergeant Tanner cut in before Bilkins would speak. "We'll get on that, but for now, could you tell us about your cousin. Please?"

"I'll answer what I can of your questions, but the man that hurt my son had better be found." Ashlynn said, shifting her gaze to Tanner.

"You can't prove that one of my officers did that!" Bilkins accused, drawing Ashlynn's gaze back to him.

"Sure I can."

"Really."

"Oh yes."

"And how is that."

"Because," She paused, but apparently Bilkins didn't like that.

"Because what?"

"Impatient much?"

"Answer the question."

Ashlynn leaned forward conspiratorially, mindful of her son, her voice dropping dangerously low. "Because, O'Conner over here was there." She sat back in her chair, looking over at Brian. "Or should I call you Spilner, go along with this charade?"

Brian chuckled, but Bilkins didn't understand what was so funny. "What are you laughing at? She knows your cover, she could just be blackmailing you into saying you were there."

It was Ashlynn's turn to laugh. "But we all know I'm not blackmailing him because we all know he was there." She said in a sing-song voice. She turned her attention back to Tanner. "What would you like to know about Dominic Toretto?" She asked him.

"Do you know what he's doing? What he's involved in?" Tanner asked her patiently.

"Uh, getting ready for Race Wars." Ashlynn said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, that is tomorrow, right?"

"What do you know about the truck heists?" Bilkins snapped.

"Ha, you're funny if you think my cousin is behind that. He might be thick headed, but he's not an idiot." Ashlynn lied smoothly. "He's all about family, if something would hurt that family, if something could break the family, he'd gladly walk away with his tail between his legs."

"And what do you know about the illegal street racing?" Tanner asked calmly.

"That a lot of people do it." She said matter-of-factly.

"And about his time in Lompoc?"

"He doesn't like talking about his time inside."

"We're aware that you've been keeping correspondence with the entire gang for the-"

"Team," She interrupted. "They're a team. Not a gang."

Tanner looked confused.

"There's a difference; Team means family, you look out for each other, help each other, gang means everyone for themselves, you look out for yourself and not one else."

"Alright, you've kept up correspondence with the…team for the last month. Is that correct?" Tanner asked.

"One hundred percent correct." Ashlynn said as she stroked her son's hair as he fidgeted.

"What did you talk about?"

"The longer conversations were mostly with Dom, reminiscing about the past, or Jesse, I listen to him talk about schematics for hours." She said, a small smile on her face. "Most of the conversations were about them coming up to visit me at my home after Race Wars."

"What for?" Bilkins interjected.

"I haven't seen my family since I was about nine when my mother annoyed my father into moving just so she'd shut up about it. I haven't talked to them since I said good-bye. Why do you think I want them to visit." Ashlynn said, her voice calm, but the venom still there.

"And the phone calls with Tran?"

"No one knows, but we were all great friends before I was dragged away. I reminisce with him about the good times. His family loved to have me over whenever I wasn't hiding out at Dom's." Ashlynn told them.

"And what do you know about this debt that your cousin has with the Trans?" Tanner asked.

"That I'm paying it off." She murmured, causing Brian to laugh.

"Does Dom know that?" He asked, gaining a glare from Bilkins.

"Ha, not yeeet." She said. "He's not gonna be happy about it, but he can deal."

"Why won't he be happy?" Bilkins asked.

Ashlynn raised an eyebrow. "You've been watching my cousin for who knows how long, and you haven't realized that he's a very proud person. Paying this debt off is going to bruise his pride, not something he takes very well." No one spoke for a few minutes and Ashlynn rolled her eyes. "So, if you're done with your questions, I'll be taking my son's medical file back and be leaving now. I expect to hear that you figure out which guy is paying my son's hospital bill."

"I think we're done," Bilkins said. "For now."

"That wasn't very dramatic, if that's what you were going for." Ashlynn muttered as she set Luciano down on the floor and stood, stretching her hip with a wince.

"You alright?" Tanner asked her.

"Ha, yeah, wouldn't you know that the one time I'm out with the horses, I get a call and the sound is still on, spooks the horse and I don't move out of the way fast enough." She said with a slightly amused, but tight smile.

"So what happened to your face?" Bilkins asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I pissed off my ex-boyfriend." She said shortly. "Apparently he's got a shorter fuse than he used to… Though, telling him that he wasn't anything more than a faceless sperm donor was probably going a little far." She continued as she grabbed her son's medical file and put it back in her purse.

"And you didn't file a domestic abuse report?" Bilkins asked skeptically.

"Ah, that would be a no. There's no point." She said as she picked her son up. "And it's none of your business. So, ta."

And with that, she left the room and Brian followed her.

"How long have you known?" He asked.

"Since I met you I've had a hunch, but like Dom says, my hunches are hardly ever wrong." She replied.

"Does Dom know."

"Dom knows."

"And he hasn't killed me?"

"I may have been a voice of reason."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a reason you told them it was Johnny." She told him. "You don't want it to be Dom."

"But it is." He murmured softly.

"Yes. And he's pissed, but the rest of the team doesn't know."

"But I should be careful."

"Very careful." She said as they reached the lobby. "I expect to see you at Race Wars."

And before he could say anything, she was out the door, putting her sunglasses back on.


	11. Chapter 11

So, this one is definitely shorter than the last chapter, but I still hope it's enjoyable.

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything from the original storyline or the original characters.**

This is for Venus who is amazing and totally helps me with ideas, 'cause she's awesome like that. I also say thanks to Druid Archer and bookfreak25 who both see to like this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Fast and the Furious 11

Venus was worried, pacing in her bedroom as she went over everything that had happened that day. She and Johnny had gone out and it was amazing, until they got back to his house. That's when everything went bad. She had run up here and moments later, Ashlynn was there with her as she cried. Venus rubbed her arms as her thoughts took her back to the last time she cried, but quickly had to divert her thoughts back to the present or she'd end up crying again. Where was she again… Oh, yes, crying, Ashlynn talking to her and then the loud crash that had them rushing downstairs. SWAT. Johnny. Luciano. Screaming. Ashlynn. Yelling. And she just stood there, her feet glued to the ground as she watched everything happen. Johnny was gone now, for how long, she didn't know. Ashlynn and Luciano were gone too, at the hospital. Venus hated hospitals. And she didn't like remember why she hated hospitals, but it was hard not to remember with the reminders all over her body. The memory would always be there, but she hoped there was nothing permanent that would always remind Luciano of what had happened to him. It was a little after ten and Venus' nerves were quite frayed, so much so that she jumped when her phone started buzzing. A text from Ashlynn.

'Hey V. I'm gonna take Luc to Dom's. Gonna crash there tonight.'

Venus sighed with relief that Luciano didn't have to stay in the hospital. 'Why?' She sent back.

'Cuz it's closer.'

'You want me and S to come?'

'No stay there, especially in case Johnny gets back tonight or in the morning, let me know what happens, ok?'

'Yeah, sure. You go it. Be careful, yeah?'

'Yeah, I'll be careful. Let S know what's going on, yeah?'

'Got it.'

'Thanks V.'

'Course Ash.'

Venus sighed with relief. Ashlynn and Luc were going to be fine. That just left her to worry about Johnny. And worry she did. All night and well into the morning until she heard a car drive up. Car doors opened and closed and then she heard hurried footsteps on the hardwood floors downstairs and coming up the stairs as she rushed to her door and flung it open. She saw Johnny walking down the hall in her direction and anger was clearly written on his face.

"Johnny?" She called softly as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

Johnny looked up and the anger on his face disappeared behind a smile, but she could still see it in his eyes. "Venus." He greeted softly, stopping in front of her.

"Are you…gonna be alright?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm gonna be fine."

Without thinking, or even realizing what she was doing, Venus found herself hugging Johnny tightly and she was crying again.

"Hey, it's alright." Johnny said softly as he wrapped his arms around the crying girl, guiding her back into the bedroom she was given, closing the door behind them. "What's wrong?" He asked her softly, gently pulling her head away from his chest and wiping some of her tears away.

She blinked and more tears fell as she started talking. "I was worried and I didn't know what to do." She rambled, her speech fast, and if Johnny wasn't paying attention one hundred percent, he wouldn't have understood anything she said. "Ashlynn and I were talking and then SWAT came and then you were gone and then Ashlynn was gone and Silver hid away, like she always does when something bad happens. And I was freaking out because I didn't know what was going on and I couldn't move when everything was happening and I didn't get to apologize for disappearing on you after we got back and now you're laughing at me. Why are you laughing?"

Johnny chuckled. "You're cute when you ramble."

Venus blushed and ducked her head, mumbling a soft "Am not."

Johnny smiled and tilted her head back up. "Of course you are. Now, what's this about an apology?"

"Oh, uhm," Venus flustered again, her speech hurried again. "I, uh… I ran off after I told you about my parents and my brother and my name… Because I assumed you would pity me and I hate pity… I should have given you a chance to show that you weren't going to pity me instead of running off and making Ashlynn mad at you and all of that… So, I'm sorry?"

Johnny smiled again. "That's alright, I can understand why you ran off. Just one thing."

"What?" She asked nervously as she watch him lean down towards her.

"Give me a chance next time." He said softly.

"Alright."

"I'm going to kiss you now."

"Okay." She managed to whisper before Johnny's lips brushed against her own. When he went to pull away, she followed him, pressing her lips firmly against his.

When they pulled away, Johnny smiled, their foreheads touching. "As much as I'd like to stay here, I have to go shower and deal with my family."

Venus snorted and joked. "Yeah, now that you mention it, you kinda need a shower."

Johnny laughed. "That's not what you were say two minutes ago."

Venus blushed. "Oh, go take your shower."

Johnny smiled and gave her a quick kiss before he left her room. Venus blushed darker and looked at her phone. Nine fifteen. Ashlynn probably wasn't awake. Oh well. And with that, she began calling Ashlynn nonstop for the next hour and a half until the other girl answered.

"Yes Venus?" Came Ashlynn's sleepy and annoyed voice.

"What have you been doing that you haven't been answering my phone calls for the last hour and a half?" She asked the other girl, only to let out a disgusted screech at the answer she got. "EW! REALLY? YOU COULDN'T HAVE JUST SAID YOU WERE BUSY?"

"And you wouldn't have pestered me, asking what I was so busy with?" Was Ashlynn's knowing reply.

Venus paused before answering, gaining her an eye roll that she couldn't see, but knew happened. "Don't roll your eyes at me."

They talked for a few minutes about Johnny getting back and Venus explained in the fewest amount of words what had happened, resulting in Ashlynn freaking out.

"Wait, WHAT?"

"No need to shit a brick Ash." Venus told her as she flopped down onto the bed.

"No need? You freaking APOLOGIZED, you never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, ever apologize unless you're being a sarcastic bitch. And he kissed you! That's a big deal!"

Venus thought about it as she mumbled back a response. She wasn't that bad, was she? Oh well, not like she was gonna change who she was to make everyone else happy. The two of them talked a while longer and Venus smiled when there was a soft knock on her door as Ashlynn told her she needed a favor.

"And what's that?" She asked as she opened the bedroom door, Johnny leaning against the frame.

"Well, I need some clothes for me and Luc."

"And?" She asked, leaning against the other side of the door frame.

"And I need you to bring them here."

"Why can't you come pick them up?" She asked with an eye roll, causing Johnny to raise an eyebrow.

"'Cause Luc is helping Mia make pancakes."

"Pancakes?"

"Yes, pancakes."

"I like pancakes."

"I can maybe talk Mia into making some extra, if you bring clothes for me and Luc."

Venus paused, looking at Johnny before answering. "Alright, what do you need?"

"Something public appropriate, and deodorant and shit. And my make up."

"Kay, text me the directions and I'll be there soon."

"Thanks V. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, bye Ash."

"Bye V."

"She better appreciate this." Venus mumbled as she hung up.

"What?" Johnny asked as he took in her appearance, noticing that she hadn't changed after everything that had happened yesterday.

"Ash went to Dom's house last night after she and Luc got out of the ER and they crashed there. Unfortunately, she needs me to drop clothes off for her and the squirt." She explained.

"Well, you're getting free breakfast out of it."

"Yes, yes I am." Venus said with a grin as she walked towards Ashlynn's room.

"So I guess I'll just have to settle for taking you out to lunch again," Johnny said from the doorway as Venus searched through Ashlynn's and Luciano's clothes.

She paused and looked up at him, a shy smile on her face. "I guess so." She said, before returning to her search, ginning evilly when she found what appeared to be the only pair of skinny jeans that Ashlynn brought, a black tank top and white v neck, and white three inch stilettos. "Oh, sweet revenge."

"Revenge?" Johnny asked, causing her to jump. She hadn't realized he was still standing there.

"Yeeesssss." Venus sang with a grin.

"For what?"

"For what she dressed me in yesterday."

"Well, if you don't like that outfit, how come you're still wearing it?" He asked her with a grin as he walked towards her.

She looked down and realized he was right and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Well, look at that. So I am." She paused. "It's still payback."

Johnny laughed. "Well, I'll leave you to your revenge, and I'll see you later." He told her, placing a kiss on her cheek before leaving.

Venus blushed as she turned back to get clothes for Luciano and grabbing the rest of the necessary items before checking her phone that had buzzed. She left Ashlynn's room with the bag and knocked on Silver's door.

"Yes?" Silver asked as she opened the door.

"I'm dropping off stuff for Ash and Luc. Since they stayed with her family last night after everything that happened." Venus told her.

"Alright." Silver said with a soft smile.

"Just letting you know. I'll see you later." Venus said before going to her room to change really quick. Five minutes later, she was in black skinny jeans, white tank top, with a black and purple checkered button up over it, and her Vans on her feet. She grabbed her keys and the bag before walking out of her room and down the stairs, out through what used to be the front door and to her car. She took off, speeding down the streets, glancing at her phone every now and then to make sure she was going the right way. She'd gotten halfway through the directions when a truck pulled up beside her and the driver motioned for her to pull over. She tried to lose the guy and stick to the directions, but he wasn't getting lost like she hoped and she pulled over.

She watched the blonde that got out of the car approached her car and she glared at him as she rolled her window down. "Do I know you?" She asked.

"No, but I'm Officer O'Conner." He said with a smile that Venus automatically hated.

"Oh, you're the cop Ash yelled at last night."

"That would be me."

"What do you need?"

"Just let Ashlynn know that I'll see her at the station after noon, please?"

"Sure, whatever."

As soon as the blonde got in his truck, Venus was off, disappearing in the late morning traffic. Minutes later, she pulled up to the Toretto house and parked behind Ashlynn's car. Grabbing the bag she packed for Ashlynn and made her way up to the door, banging on it impatiently until Ashlynn answered the door.

"Hey V. Thanks for bringing this stuff." Ashlynn said as she hugged Venus just as the pixie haired girl had opened her mouth to ask where the pancakes were. "When you sit down at the table, don't grab for the food first." Was whispered in her ear and it confused her.

"Why?"

"Trust me, just don't."

"Whatever." Venus mumbled with a shrug causing Ashlynn to laugh as she dragged the shorter girl into the kitchen to introduce her to the family. Upon entering the kitchen, Venus found Luciano running at her.

"Auntie Venus!"

"Hey squirt! How you feeling?"

"I'm okay!"

"That's good. Had to say, I was pretty worried about you." She said, stopping as she glanced around and noticed people she didn't know staring at her.

"Venus, I'd like you to meet my family. That's Dom, his girlfriend Letty, Dom's best friend Vince, then there's Leon and Jesse, and Mia's getting breakfast on the table for us." Ashlynn looked at the team. "Guys, this is Venus." Each person pointed to as they were introduced, and Venus was well aware that most of them weren't happy about her intruding on their territory.

Venus watched Ashlynn walk over and sit on Jesse's lap and had a flashback of a time when the dark red headed girl would do the same thing with Marcos. She informed Ashlynn of what O'Conner had told her as she walked over to the chair between Jesse and Leon and let Luciano sit on her lap. There was brief conversation before everyone told Mia what they wanted to drink and Ashlynn laughed at Mia's question to Venus, cracking a joke and confusing Vince. Breakfast itself was quite tense and Venus felt as if she were surrounded my animals that would eat her if she did something wrong. She hated that feeling. She also hated when Ashlynn coerced her into helping dry the dishes and was all too glad when the dishes were done and she could leave.

"There's something about that O'Conner guy you're not telling me Ash." Venus mumbled to the taller girl.

"You don't want to know and it shouldn't effect you, so don't worry about it right now." Ashlynn told her. "How's S?"

"S is… S, you know how she can be." Venus mumbled moodily.

"That's a fair point." Ashlynn muttered. "So, you gonna head back to Johnny's?"

"Yeah, probably go get a Lollicup and head back there." Venus replied as they passed the team, who had spread out in the living room, to get to the door.

"How is Tran?" Vince asked, his smugness palpable in the air.

Venus was not happy as she turned to look at Vince a dark look fixed on her face. "Quite annoyed." She stated, ignoring Ashlynn's attempt to calm her down, and even though she shouldn't, she continued talking. "Then again, I would be too seeing as he was interrogated for hours when it should have been you guys." Only be polite, she turned to Mia and thanked the girl before she stormed out of the house and took off. She didn't know how long she'd been aimlessly driving around after she left the Toretto house, but somehow, she ended up outside Johnny's house, with no recollection of getting there.

"Venus?" Came Johnny's muffled voice as he knocked on the window.

Turning her head, she looked at him before cutting the engine and stepping out of the car.

"You alright?" He asked her

"I guess."

"Did something happen?"

"One of the guys, Vince I think it was, was just being an ass right before I left." She told him as she closed the door and leaned against it. "And I got super pissed and took off, drove around and ended up back here. And I'm super tired."

"I see, well…" He paused, watching her. "We could go out, drive around for a bit, get some lunch in a couple hours, and then come back and you could get some sleep, or we could postpone going out until later and you can get some sleep now."

"Can't sleep now, too wired." Venus mumbled, looking as if she could just pass out right there.

"Alright, let's go out then." Johnny said, leading her to his car.

"Where are we going?" She asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Venice Beach." He told her once he'd slid into the driver seat. "Or the pier at any rate."

"Cool."

And with that, they were off. And while they went off to the pier, Ashlynn was driving back to the Toretto household. When Ashlynn arrived at the house, she saw that Vince, Leon, and Letty's cars weren't there.

Leading Luciano in the house, Ashlynn glanced around, looking for Dom, Mia, or Jesse. "Hello?"

"Kitchen." Came Dom's voice.

Entering the kitchen, Ashlynn said Dom and Jesse. "Where are Mia and the others?"

"The shop." Dom replied.

"I see, so, why aren't you guys there?" She asked as she sat next to Jesse.

"'Cause I want to talk to you and I wanted Jesse to take Luciano to the shop with him." Dom told her.

"Uh oh, I think I'm in trouble." Ashlynn whispered to Luciano with a smile before looking back at Dom. "Alright. I'll get Luciano's car seat."

So, with that said, Jesse, Ashlynn, and Luciano walked outside and Ashlynn got the aforementioned car seat and handed it to Jesse who put it in the backseat of the Jetta.

"I'll see you soon Bambino." Ashlynn said as she kissed the top of the boy's head as she buckled him into the backseat.

"Is he mad?" Luciano asked softly.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure he's mad, but don't worry about it Bambino. He won't do anything more than yell." Ashlynn told him. "Have fun okay?"

"Okay Mamma."

Ashlynn closed the door at turned to Jesse. "So, you know what he wants to talk to me about?"

"Sometime after you left, he got a call. That's all the rest of the team knows. He told me it was Tran and something about a debt and the trucks." Jesse said softly. "He didn't want to explain too much of it, but he told me enough."

"Aha, I see. Well, I'll tread lightly, maybe." She said as she hugged Jesse. "I'll see you guys soon."

"Alright, just be careful." Jesse said, kissing her cheek before getting into the Jetta and driving off to the shop.

Ashlynn turned and walked back into the house and to the kitchen where Dom was still sitting. "So, what did I do?" She asked, sitting down in one of the chairs

"I got a call from Johnny Tran."

"Uh huh?"

"He said that you know all about the hijackings and the debt, which I know because you called me out on it."

"I still don't see where this is going."

"He told me that you told him that you were going to pay off the rest of the debt."

"Ah, yes, that." She said with a nod. "Yes, I did. Because you guys 'jacking trucks seems too dangerous to me."

"I don't need you fixing my problems for me Ashlynn." He growled.

"I'm not fixing your problem. I'm fixing my problem."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, my problem is you guys risking your lives to 'jack these trucks, so, I pay off the rest of your debt, there's no need to continue with the truck hijackings." She explained. "But, you know, there's something else that's bothering me."

"And what's that?"

"Well, you've hijacked three or so trucks, yeah?"

"Right."

"Well, shouldn't that be closer to, I don't know six million dollars, compared to the one hundred and fifty thousand you've already paid to the Trans?"

Dom clenched his jaw as he stared at Ashlynn.

"See, so, me paying the debt isn't what's bothering you, it's the fact that if I pay the debt, you don't have a cover for getting the adrenaline rush you get 'jacking trucks." She continued, her voice cracking as she did. "And that leads me to think that you were going to drag it out as long as you possibly could to be able to continue to get the high. So, that leaves me with all these scenarios playing in my head. And I don't particularly like them."

"Like what?"

"Like you dying Dominic!" She snapped, a few tears falling.

"I'm not going to die." He argued.

"Why, because you say you're not? That doesn't mean anything Dom! Accidents happen!" She hissed. "I just got you back. I don't want to lose you again."

"I'm not going anywhere Baby Girl."

"I can't lose you or anyone else Dom… I can't."

"You're not going to lose anyone else."

"Only if you stop hijacking the trucks." She mumbled. "That's the only way I get to keep my whole family."

"So, what am I supposed to do Ash?" He asked her, staring at her, his eyes softened from seeing her shed tears.

"Find some other way to get your adrenaline rush." She said. "And you're going to give me the rest of the money for your debt to the Trans and I'll tell them that I got the money earlier than I had planned. That way I know that's not why you 'jack another truck. If you 'jack another truck."

"Alright Baby Girl." He mumbled as he stood up and disappeared. He reappeared minutes later with a couple large stacks of money and Ashlynn counted it as she put it in her purse.

"It's all there." He told her as he watched her.

"I'm just checking." She said. "We both know that the Trans are gonna count it anyway." Standing up, Ashlynn hugged Dom tightly.

Dom looked down at her curiously as he pat her back.

"Give me a real hug Dom." She demanded, causing him to chuckle as he acquiesced her demand. "That's better." She grinned as she pulled away. "Now, let's get to the garage before Jesse starts thinking you killed me."

Dom laughed as the two of them walked outside. Ashlynn smiled and held out her car keys to Dom after unlocking the passenger side door.

"You sure about that?" He asked.

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have offered. Just don't fuck her up." She said as she opened the door and slid into the car.

Dom laughed as he walked around to the driver side and got in as Ashlynn was buckling up. Dom situated himself behind the wheel, changing how Ashlynn had her seat set up before starting the car and taking off, smoothly changing gears as he sped along, taking the longer way around to the shop.

"So, where did you get a car like this?" Dom asked as they pulled up to the shop.

"Gift from dad… Compensation for having to move, you know?" Ashlynn replied as Dom parked and cut the engine.

"Your old man bought you this?"

Ashlynn laughed at the disbelief in Dom's voice as they got out of the car. "You forget that my old man was your old man's brother."

"You got me there." He laughed as he handed her keys back to her and they walked into the shop, noticing that everyone seemed to be sitting there waiting for them.

"Man, who died?" Ashlynn asked as she sat next to Luciano, who was munching away on what appeared to be a tuna sandwich, oblivious to the tension around him.

"We were just waiting for you guys to get here." Letty told her as she watched Dom get himself a beer.

"You wanted to make sure he didn't kill me." Ashlynn corrected. "Well, I'm alive and well, you can relax."

The team laughed and just like that, it was as if nothing had happened and they all went about their work. Ashlynn would wander around the garage with Luciano, sometimes looking in at what the team was doing on their respective cars. And soon, four thirty came and Ashlynn informed the team she had to go.

"Why? You can crash back at the Fort again." Vince said.

"Well, for one, I like Johnny's family, I haven't seen them since before I left, and for two, all of my stuff is there." She told them. "Don't worry, we'll be at the house around ten."

Reluctantly, the team let her go and when she and Luciano got back to Johnny's house, Ashlynn went in search of Johnny, hoping to find him before sitting down to dinner. Unfortunately, she didn't find him and when she sat down to dinner with Silver and Johnny's family, neither Johnny or Venus showed up to the table. Guess she knew where she was looking after dinner.

Dinner itself was fairly pleasant, quiet, but pleasant. Light conversation was made and some jokes were said, and Ashlynn was glad she had these people back in her life. When dinner ended about an hour or so later, Ashlynn and Luciano went upstairs and Ashlynn had Luciano go into the room they were sharing before she went over to Venus' door. Rather than knocking, she quietly opened the door and peered inside. She had to bite her lip to keep from letting out a squeal of happiness; Johnny and Venus were laying fast asleep, cuddled together on the bed. A few stuffed animals, the largest of them looked like it was different shades of purple or maybe it was tye-dyed, Ashlynn couldn't tell in the darkness of the room, and the like were scattered around the room, and Ashlynn was sure they hadn't been there before. She smiled to herself as she shut the door as quietly as she had opened it.

Going back downstairs, Ashlynn walked to Johnny's study and put the money she'd gotten from Dom on the desk, a scrap of paper from her purse used to write a short note so Johnny knew what the money was doing there. And with that, Ashlynn went back upstairs and into the room she was using, smiling as she found Luciano playing a video game. She went into the bathroom and washed her face before joining her son on the bed and helping him get past the more difficult aspects of parts of the game when he asked her to. Around nine-thirty, ten o'clock, Ashlynn convinced Luciano to shut the game off and go to sleep in order to get up early in the morning. After all, they didn't want to be late to Race Wars did they?


	12. Chapter 12

So, it's been a little over a month since I last updated. Hella long. But I have for you the chapter of Race Wars. I wanted it to be super amazing, but it didn't meet those standards, but I do like the way it turned out in any rate. I do so hope you like it. I know that Venus has been waiting for Forever and A Day to read this, so I absolutely MUST dedicate this chapter to her.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but characters not originally in the story and my own plot twists.**

So, I hope you enjoy and I would really like to hear what everyone thinks of this chapter. You reviews motivate me to write more for you guys. Hopefully chapter 13 will be out sooner!

Enjoy.

Fast and the Furious 12

Venus grumbled sleepily as she heard someone knocking on her door, she was not a morning person and it was definitely too early for her. She glanced at her phone which confirmed the early morning hour and she yawned, rolling over, fully intent on falling back to sleep for another hour or so, only to bump into something. Her eyes, which had closed while she yawned, snapped open as she tensed before she spotted Johnny laying fully clothed on the right side of the bed. Slowly, she relaxed, watching him through half-lidded eyes as she remembered the events of the afternoon of the day before, causing a lazy grin to spread across her face as she snuggled up against him carefully, trying to avoid waking him.

When she'd returned to his house the day before, still fuming at Vince's smug arrogance, he'd whisked her off to the Venice Beach and they'd had fun at the pier. He'd insisted on playing games and winning her stuffed animals, which had made her grin like a loon and blush like mad. He had won her quite the number of stuffed animals and they'd shared a late lunch, early dinner, from one of the vendors, whose name she couldn't remember. And when they were done, they'd take the stuffed animals to Johnny's car before walking along the beach in typical cliché movie fashion, causing a giggle from Venus as she had thought about it. When the sun had started setting, the two had walked back to Johnny's car and drove back to Johnny's house, hands entwined. When they had entered the house, Venus remembered to leave her shoes at the door before following Johnny up the stairs, both of their arms full of stuffed animals. She remembered yawning multiple times as they walked up to the room provided for her and dumped the stuffed animals on the floor before she collapsed on the bed tiredly. She had been vaguely aware of Johnny pressing a kiss to her forehead and wishing her a good night's sleep before he turned to leave, only for her to barely catch his hand and ask him to stay with her. She didn't want to be alone right now, not after what had happened the previous day; which had left her revisiting memories she'd prefer to not think about ever again.

Her reminiscent thoughts were disturbed by the knocking on the door and she growled softly as she carefully extracted herself from bed to answer the door. It was Ashlynn. Of course. Venus glowered groggily at the taller girl.

"What?" She hissed.

"We need to be at Dom's by ten, so you have about three and a half or so hours to pack and get ready." Ashlynn informed her, rubbing the excess sleep from her eyes.

"That's why you woke me up at seven o'clock in the morning?" Venus snapped with another glare.

"Well, I've been up since about four-thirty. I figured I'd let you and Johnny sleep longer. You might wanna wake him up though, I'm sure he's gonna want to make sure everything is smooth sailing with his car." Ashlynn informed her with a teasing grin.

Venus was tempted to flip her friend off, but settled for closing the door in the taller girl's face before returning to bed, where she snuggled close to Johnny. She watched him a few moments longer, wondering how it was that he was still asleep as she brought her hand up and gently ran her fingertips along his jaw, exploring up over his cheek, mapping out his face.

"That kind of tickles." He spoke softly, causing Venus to jump and retract her hand. "It felt nice though."

"Didn't mean to wake you." She told him softly.

"It's alright." He assured her with a smile. "Should probably get up anyway."

"I'd rather not." She mumbled, causing Johnny to let out a laugh.

"Ah, but it's Race Wars, everyone loves Race Wars."

"Says who?"

"Everyone that attends. So, you're going to have to attend in order to love it."

Venus gave a small smile. "Yeah, yeah. I better get some damn caffeine. This is WAY too early to be up."

"Could be earlier."

"I know. Ash has been up since about four-thirty she said. Crazy bitch she is."

"She's just excited."

"I know, but four-thirty? I think that's a bit overkill on being prepared."

Johnny laughed. "You may be right, but I've got to go get ready and make sure that my car is all set."

"Ash said you probably would." Venus muttered, rolling onto her back.

"Don't look so dejected, if I hadn't already told Toretto I'd kick his ass I wouldn't be bothered to get up."

"I'm not dejected!" Venus said as she crossed her arms.

Johnny smiled, "If you say so."

"I do say so."

Johnny smiled again and kissed the corner of her mouth. "You'll have fun. Just give it a chance."

Giving a sigh of mock suffering, Venus nodded. "Alright."

Standing from the bed, Johnny stretched and ran his fingers through his hair before offering a hand to Venus. Yawning, Venus took his hand and let herself be pulled up off the bed and found herself wrapped in his arms.

"So, I will be seeing you later, and you're going to have fun." He said, kissing the top of her head.

"If you insist." Venus said, nuzzling his shoulder.

Johnny laughed softly before letting go of Venus. "Oh, I insist." He said as he walked to the door. "Trust me, it won't be boring." And with that he was gone.

Venus sighed, looking around the room that way quite a mess, she was not really looking forward to packing everything up. First things first, she needed to find an outfit. She spent twenty minutes searching, putting negated outfits in the duffle bag as she went, seeing as she figured that would get things done quicker. She was about to give up and call Ashlynn in when she spotted a white article of clothing. It was a mid thigh length dress with a mock corset and off the shoulder straps. It was perfect! Now she just needed shoes. Quickly stuffing the rest of her clothing in the duffle bag, she turned her attention to her shoes. It took her a few minutes to decide, but she grabbed her black, low-top converse, having decided that the knee high ones would probably be too much. After packing away the rest of her shoes, Venus stood and wandered into the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. When Ashlynn came knocking at her door an hour and a half later, it was almost nine and Venus was finishing her make up.

"It's open!" She called as she lined her eyes.

"Almost ready?" Ashlynn asked as she and Luciano entered the bedroom. Ashlynn was dressed in a baby blue, low cowl back, halter mini dress, criss crossing ties held it together so it didn't fall off, with black capri leggings and flats that matched the color of the dress, with a black fedora to complete the outfit. Luciano was wearing a pair of camouflage shorts and a white tank top with a pair of Vans.

"Yeah, I just finished." Venus said as she walked out of the bathroom and tossed her make up into the duffle bag before sitting down and pulling on her socks and shoes. "Is S ready?"

"I think she's still packing, but we've got a little bit of time. I told Dom we'd be there at ten." Ashlynn said as she checked her phone for the time. "We'll be fine."

"Alright." Venus said as she stood up. "Should probably put everything in my car."

"Should I send Johnny up to help?" Ashlynn said with a coy smile.

"I can manage just fine on my own, thank you." Venus said with a sniff as she grabbed her bag and some of the stuffed animals.

"Alright." Ashlynn laughed before turning to Luciano. "C'mon Bambino, let's go get our things."

"Ok Mamma."

And with that, the two left, gathering their bags from the room they'd been given and were soon following Venus down the stairs and out the still yet to be fixed door. As they were loading their things into their cars, Silver came out with her bag, nodding to each of them before going to her car and putting the bag in the trunk. Ashlynn and Luciano went back inside and up the stairs to double check that they had everything, while Venus returned for the rest of the stuffed animals to put them in her car, and Silver returned to the room she was staying in to grab her jacket.

When nine-twenty rolled around, Ashlynn announced that it was time for them to leave, which had caused Johnny's family to surround her and Luciano. Silver headed out to her car as Johnny approached Venus.

"So, I'll see you soon then." Johnny said with a smile.

"Yes, yes you will." Venus replied with a smile of her own as she shyly wrapped her arms around him.

"Good, I'll have to kick Toretto's ass if you don't show."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'll just assume it's his fault you're not there."

Venus giggled softly as she stepped away from him and got in her car, turning it on before rolling her window down. "Well, I wouldn't want to miss seeing you kick his ass, so I guess I better be there."

Johnny laughed as he crouched next to her car. "I'll look forward to it then."

Behind them, a car horn was honked at them and Venus snorted. "And she calls me impatient."

Johnny smiled and leaned forward, kissing Venus softly, but passionately. "I'll see you there." He told her before he stood up and took a few steps back.

Minutes later, a still slightly dazed Venus was following Ashlynn through the streets that were growing familiar in her mental map towards the Toretto household. When they arrived at the Toretto Fort, the team's cars were all lined up and ready to go, but the team was nowhere in sight. The girls parked their cars and Ashlynn and Luciano led the way into the house, not even bothering to knock.

"Knock, knock!" She called as they stepped into the living room.

"It's not ten yet, go away!" Called Vince from the kitchen.

"Shut your face Vinny!" She called as she led the way into the kitchen where Vince, Jesse, and Leon sat. "Where's everyone else? I figured you'd be out making sure everything's perfect on the Maxima, with how much you're gonna have to depend on that thing to win, poor thing has to do most of the work."

"Letty's in the shower and Mia's getting dressed, Dom's making sure everything else is all taken care of." Vince informed her, ignoring her playful insult.

"So, where's Brian then?" She asked.

Vince scowled. "Don't know, don't care."

"Uh huh.. Anyways, guys, this is Silver. Silver, this is Vince, Leon, and Jesse." Ashlynn said pointing to and from each person as she introduced them.

Greetings were exchanged, awkward on Silver's behalf, slightly friendly and slightly suspicious on Vince and Leon's behalf, and Jesse, well, in typical Jesse fashion, he just accepted it and was friendly. Conversation was slow and was mostly carried out by Leon and Vince, Ashlynn and Jesse giving comments every now and then while Venus would snort at something she thought was stupid and Silver just glanced between everyone as she texted someone. At ten o'clock on the dot, Mia and Letty walked downstairs and Dom walked in from the back door.

"Hey Baby Girl." Dom said, kissing the top of her head as he passed her to stand with Letty.

"Hey Big Brother." She returned with a smile. "This is Silver. S, that's Dom, his girlfriend Letty, and his sister, Mia."

Silver nodded in there direction with a soft, "It's nice to meet you."

"So, is everyone ready for Race Wars?" Mia asked as she bounced around the kitchen, grabbing last minute snacks and such. She received various affirmative responses from the team.

"Can we go now?" Venus grumbled sleepily. She was definitely not a morning person.

"What's got your panties in a twist." Vince sneered.

"What panties?" Venus shot back straight-faced. Vince's face scrunched up, as did Dom's, and Venus laughed. "You guys are way too easy."

Ashlynn shook her head, but she couldn't hide the smile that graced her face as Silver giggled. "Seriously though, we're leaving soon right? 'Cause we need to get some caffeine in V or she's gonna kill someone."

"We've got coffee." Mia piped up.

"Is it Starbucks?" Venus asked.

"Well, no."

"Then it won't do anything for me."

"Don't mind her. She's not a morning person." Ashlynn said as Venus crossed her arms and slouched against the counter. "We just need to get her Starbucks."

"Soon as Mia's got all the snacks she wants to bring, we can go." Dom informed them.

"I've got everything." Mia said as she grabbed a box of gummy snacks.

"Alright, then let's go." Dom said as he led the way out of the house.

Minutes later, they were on the road, only stopping at the nearest Starbucks for Venus and Ashlynn to get themselves their caffeinated drinks, and an non-caffeinated drink for Luciano. The drive itself was long and boring in and of itself, but then the wait to get into Race Wars itself was even worse. By the time they all got through the gates, it was about noon, a little after. By twelve thirty, they had all their stuff set up, cars on display, coolers sitting in the shade of the EZ-Up canopy, beer and soda cans popped open, and folding camping chairs set up around a card table for everyone to relax in.

"So what now?" Venus asked as she sipped at her Venti sized Peppermint Chip Java Frappucchino, plopping down in one of the chairs.

"Now you get to watch the team smoke their competition." Ashlynn said as she sat down next to Venus, Venti sized Java Chip Frappucchino with extra chocolate syrup and whipped cream in hand.

Venus snorted. "Sure." She pointedly ignored the glares sent her way.

As more and more people arrived, more and more races took place. Letty was off in her car, cruising around, most likely looking for some idiot to beat, and Vince and Leon had disappeared, Dom was looking over something that may or may not have been important, Mia was sitting with a water bottle in hand near the trailer, Jesse had been roped into a game of UNO with Ashlynn, Venus, Silver, and Luciano, and Brian had still not shown up yet.

"Hey, Mia," Ashlynn called as she laid down a yellow Skip, earning a glare from Venus. "Where's your boy toy?"

"He should be here soon, if he isn't already." Mia replied before sipping at her water.

Ashlynn nodded and turned her attention back to the game at hand; the board had been reversed and it was now Venus' turn. Venus grinned as she placed down a Wild Draw Four card, announcing that the color was to be blue and Ashlynn grumbled under her breath as she drew four cards.

"Payback's a bitch, Ash." Venus sang with a grin.

"Don't expect to find any ice cream sandwiches in the freezer when we get home." Ashlynn muttered nonchalantly.

"What?" Venus cried, her eyes wide.

"What?" Ashlynn asked as though she hadn't said anything.

"UNO!" Luciano cried, interrupting the two.

Ashlynn giggled as the round continued, only to finish when Luciano played his last card.

"I'm done," Jesse said as he stood up. "Almost time for my race."

"Who are you racing?" Ashlynn asked.

"Not sure, but I'm putting down the pinkslip for the Jetta." Jesse informed her before disappearing into the trailer.

A car revved behind the group before the engine cut and Brian pulled himself out of the car. Venus' eyes went wide, looking from Brian to Ashlynn, anger clear in her eyes as pieces to the puzzle of the last few days fell into place. Venus went to stand up, but Ashlynn beat her too it and put a calming hand on the enraged girl's shoulder.

"Just relax, alright. Don't make a scene, please." Ashlynn pleaded before turning to Brian. "Was wondering when Mia's boy toy was gonna show up."

Brian grinned as he spoke. "Well, I'm here now. It was a long wait to get in."

"You're just in time to see Jesse race." Ashlynn informed him. "He's putting down the pinkslip to the Jetta. Wonder who he got that idea from."

Brian grinned sheepishly. "My bad. Who's he racing?"

"Dunno yet." Ashlynn said with a shrug. "By the way, I'd advise you to stay away from Venus. She's a little pissed at you."

Brian blinked in confusion, but nodded, "Alright."

Jesse came bounding out of the trailer with the Jetta's pinkslip in hand, happy-go-lucky grin on his face. "Hey, Bri, you made it!"

"Yeah man, wouldn't miss this." Brian said, a stupid grin of his own spreading across his face.

"Jess, man, c'mon!" Leon called from the Jetta as he drove it to the start line.

"Jess, you can't bet your dad's car." Brian said, trying to talk him out of it.

"It's alright. I ain't losin'. This fool is running a Honda 2000." Jesse began, catching Venus' attention. "I'll win. Then me and my dad can roll together when he gets out of prison. It's all good." With that, he took off towards the Jetta.

"Well, they're gonna throw him right back in prison after he kills you." Brian told him as he followed the computer genius.

"Silver, watch Luciano. I wanna see this other driver." Ashlynn said as she took off after Jesse.

"I'm going with her." Venus announced as she got up and sped after the taller girl.

"Visualize the win. Just visualize the win." Ashlynn heard Leon tell Jesse as he got out of the Jetta, giving the Mad Scientist a pat on the back. "I'm serious man, just gotta visualize the win."

"Who're you racing?" Brian asked as they all watched the Honda 2000 roll up to the start line.

They watched as the windows rolled down and revealed Johnny's face, causing Brian to try and talk Jesse out of racing. Venus was grinning, it was a sexy car and her boyfriend was driving it, who wouldn't be grinning? Ashlynn rolled her eyes as she crouched down between to two cars, glancing at the two.

With a wave at Johnny, Ashlynn turned to Jesse. "Don't worry, if you do actually lose, I've got some cars up at the house that I saved from the junkyard. You're more than welcome to have one of those."

Jesse grinned. "That's not very good incentive for me to win."

Ashlynn shrugged. "Yeah, well, at least this way, your dad won't kill you like Brian apparently thinks he will."

Jesse laughed. "Well, alright then."

Ashlynn smiled, leaning in the window to kiss him. "Good luck, just relax and I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Thanks." He mumbled with a smile as Ashlynn pulled away and stood up, moving away from the cars.

"Where's V?" Ashlynn asked, standing next to Leon and Brian. Quickly clarifying. "Venus, not Vince."

Leon and Brian both pointed to Johnny's car. Ashlynn turned her attention to said car and saw Venus stand up as the two were signaled and the engines started revving. Seconds later, they were off, speeding down the strip of dirt road. While they were neck and neck to begin with, Ashlynn noticed that Jesse's car gained ground the further they got.

"Too soon." She mumbled, watching as Johnny's car flew passed him, completely smoking the younger man.

"Saw that coming." Venus muttered.

"Shut up V." Ashlynn muttered back, watching as Jesse, no doubt freaking out, took off. She turned and headed off with Leon, who was going to warn Dom of what happened.

"Yo! Bro, head's up," Leon called as he reached the large canopy provided by the sponsors, gaining Vince and Dom's attention. "We got problems."

"What?" Dom asked as he, Vince and Leon stepped out of the shade.

"Jesse." Leon informed him, point to where Jesse was driving away, as Ashlynn walked up, Venus right behind her.

"Where's Jesse going?" Dom asked as they watched Jesse.

"He just raced Johnny for 'slips." Ashlynn said as she watched Johnny driving towards them.

"Ah, shit!" Dom cursed as he rubbed his forehead.

They all watched as Johnny drove up, not noticing Letty standing behind them.

"Where's he going?" Johnny asked as he slammed the door to his Honda 2000 shut.

"He went to the car wash."

"Whatever. Go fetch my car."

"Go fetch your car? We're not on your block anymore. You better watch who you talk to like that." Dom said as he walked back towards the rest of the team.

"TORETTO! TORETTO!" Johnny called, causing Dom to turn around and regard him with annoyance written clear on his face. "SWAT came into my house, disrespected my whole family because somebody narc'd me out! And you know what? IT WAS YOU!"

"Shit!" Ashlynn hissed as she watched Dom throw a punch at Johnny.

In a matter of seconds, a crowd swarmed, watching the fight between the two men, watching as Dominic Toretto threw punch after punch in Johnny Tran's face. A security guard tried to pull Dom away, but was pushed out of the way as an enraged Venus pounced on Dominic, throwing him off balance as she started throwing punches of her own. Letty, who had just punched Lance in the face, turned back to the fight, growing pissed as she watched Dom try to get the small girl off of him without actually hurting her.

"Letty, I got it." Ashlynn said, pulling the angry Latina back by her wrist. "Trust me, I got this." Ashlynn walked over, brushing security away as Vince walked up next to her with Leon. "Alright, I'm gonna grab her, you two grab Dom."

The two nodded, not entirely sure that Ashlynn could handle the angry girl, but they didn't say anything. Quickly, Ash swooped in, pinning the smaller girl's arms to her sides and hauled her off of Dom, carefully avoiding being kicked, not that it worked as Venus flailed her legs to get away. Leon and Vince helped Dom up and held him back as he tried to go after Tran again.

"I never narc'd on nobody! I never narc'd on nobody!" He yelled as Vince and Leon struggled to get him away from Tran.

"Here." Ashlynn said, handing Venus off to Johnny, ensuring that Dom wouldn't go after him again. "You deal with her." She muttered before turning to the crowd. "You can go the fuck away now. Show's over!" As the crowd began to disperse, Ashlynn sighed and let herself relax. She looked at Johnny and shook her head. "That was stupid. He'd never narc on you. Especially when he knew I was at your family's place. He'd never put me and Luc in that kind of danger."

Johnny nodded, knowing she was right, as he held Venus, who was slowly calming down. Though, she was still muttering death threats under her breath. Ashlynn sighed again as she pat the still angry girl on the head.

"We don't kill family, V." She said as Venus growled for being pat on the head.

"Don't do that Ash. I'm not some sort of fucking dog."

"Sure you aren't, you fucking werewolf."

"Bitch ass vampire."

Johnny looked at the two like they were insane, and to be honest, they probably were.

"By the way," Ashlynn began, looking up at Johnny. "If anything happens to Jesse, and I mean _anything_, you won't have to worry about Dom, 'cause _I'm_ going to be the one kicking your ass."

Venus was about to say something when they heard Luciano screaming in Italian. Venus struggled out of Johnny's arms and took off running after Ashlynn, who was pushing people out of her way to get to her son. When they reached the team's trailer and canopy, they saw Silver standing up from where it looked like she'd been knocked to the ground with Mia's help. Dom, Letty, Vince and Leon were soon standing with them.

"What happened? Where's Luc?" Ashlynn asked, near hysterics.

"He's just fine." Marcos' voice sounded from behind her. "Though, it's really annoying with him screaming that Italian crap."

"You didn't think it was crap before and when we started dating." Ashlynn countered, but Marcos continued speaking as if he hadn't heard her.

"You know, he looks nothing like me. Makes me wonder if he really is mine. Makes me wonder if you cheated on me. Did you, huh Babe?" He said as he looked at the scared boy in his arms.

"You fucking asshole! How dare you!" Venus hissed, her anger coming back tenfold.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Dom said as he walked to stand next to Ashlynn. "This is your ex? This is the one that hit you?"

"This would be the one. Marcos Garcia-Rivera." Ashlynn confirmed.

"You're the one that dated Hector's sister." Dom growled.

"I didn't know Hector had a sister." Ashlynn muttered, mostly to himself.

"Hector considers a lot of people family." Letty muttered to her.

"Ah, I see." She said with a nod, watching Marcos and Luciano, who was scared out of his mind. "You know, I'm really not liking this trend."

"And what trend would that be?" Marcos asked smugly.

"The trend where people keep scaring _my_ son out of his mind." Ashlynn growled, watching as Brian snuck up behind Marcos, motioning for everyone to be quiet. "Bambino, tutto andrà bene, va bene? (Baby boy, everything is going to be fine, alright?)"

Luciano just nodded, too afraid to speak. Seconds later, his eyes went wide as he felt the man's hold on his grow weak as Brian knocked Marcos in the back of the head. Dom stepped forward and grabbed Luciano before Marcos could drop him as he went unconscious.

"Ringrazio lo zio Domenico. (Thank you Uncle Dominic.)" Luciano said softly as he held onto the large man.

"I ain't your uncle kid, but you're welcome." Dom told him with a smile. "Beside, it's the snowman over there you wanna thank."

Luciano looked over to Brian and tilted his head to the side curiously. "Grazie."

"No problem." Brian said with a grin as security walked over.

"What seems to be the problem?" The man asked.

"Well, that piece of shit there," Venus spoke, pointing to Marcos' unconscious form. "Attacked her," pointing to Silver. "And kidnapped that boy," pointing to Luciano. "To extract revenge on her," pointing at Ashlynn. "And he," A point in Brian's direction, "Knocked the aforementioned piece of shit unconscious."

"Really?" The man asked, not totally convinced.

"Really." Everyone chorused together.

"Alright, that was kinda creepy." Ashlynn muttered.

"Alright, we'll have him removed from the premises." The security guard said before radioing for another guard to come help him.

"Thanks." A few of them muttered.

Ashlynn sighed, plopping down in one of the chairs, sipping from her half gone Frappucchino.

"I'm up." Dom muttered as he set Luciano down in Ashlynn's lap.

"Ehi, Domenico, perché non prendere Luciano con te? (Hey, Dominic, why not take Luciano with you?)" She said before he could walk away.

"You sure about that Baby Girl?" He asked, eyebrow raised as he watched Luciano look between them.

"Per favore?" Luciano asked.

"I'm sure."

"Alright. C'mon little man." Dom said, picking him back up and walking off.

"He's gonna make a good daddy one day." Ashlynn said softly.

"Just don't tell him that." Letty said with a smile.

From that point on, the rest of the day was pretty relaxing, the teams races were mostly all won, everyone was having a good time. The fun lasted well into the night before it was disrupted. Luciano was sleeping in the tralier, dead tired from all the excitement of having been allowed to accompany the rest of the team in their races as well. He was definitely going to be an adrenaline seeker of some kind. Ashlynn, Venus, and Silver were sitting around the card table still, empty bottles of water around them as they played more UNO.

"She's not in there." Ashlynn piped up as Brian walked passed them towards the trailer.

"Where is she?" He asked, stopping next to the table, ignoring the glare Venus sent his way.

"Arguing with Dom about going on another truck heist that he doesn't need to do." Ashlynn muttered, both angry and sad at the same time as she placed a card down.

"Shit." Brian muttered.

"So, policeman, what are you going to do about it?" Venus growled, watching him as she placed her card down, leaving her with two.

"I don't know, but I have to stop them."

"Well, looks like you're a little too late." Ashlynn said as she looked over to Mia as the girl was storming away from Dom as the team got into the cars. "I got a very bad feeling about this. Very bad."

Mia stormed passed all of them and Ashlynn watched as Brian went after her. She watched the emotions play over Mia's face, disbelief, anger, betrayal, hurt, and she knew Brian had told her cousin that he was a cop. Resignation and determination flashed over Mia's face even as tears filled her eyes, and Ashlynn knew that Mia was going to go along with whatever Brian was planning.

"Uno," She muttered as she placed a card down, trying to ignore the foreboding feeling she had swirling around in her chest. "I win." She muttered even softer than before as she placed her last card down when it came her turn again.

"Ash," Venus began. "Everything is going to be fine."

"I hope so." Ashlynn said softly as she watched Mia and Brian walk towards them again.

"We're going to go after them. They might make it through tonight, but the truck drivers are going to start fighting back, and even if they do make it through tonight, every law enforcement agency in California is coming down on them. We've got to do something."

"I'm coming with you." Ashlynn said as she stood up.

"No, you have to stay here with Luc." Mia said softly.

"No, Silver can stay with Luc. I'm going with you." Ashlynn declared as she walked to the trailer. "Just let me say goodbye really fast." Entering the trailer, Ashlynn took a deep breath, watching as her son slept. She walked over and gently sat down next to him, brushing his hair out of his face softly.

"Mamma?" He asked groggily.

"Hey baby." She said softly. "I've got somewhere I have to go, alright? But I'll be back. Silver is going to stay with you until I get back, alright?"

"Alright Mamma. Where are you going?"

"Nowhere important, you just go back to sleep."

"Ok."

"You know I love you, right Bambino?"

"Yes Mamma, I love you too." He smiled softly as he started drifting off again.

Ashlynn smiled sadly and kissed the boy's forehead before quietly standing up and leaving the trailer. "Alright, let's go."

"I'll drive." Venus said, standing from her chair. "You're in no state to drive."

"Thanks, V." She said softly. "Watch him Silver, don't let him know about what's going on."

"You got it Ash." Silver said softly. "Good luck."

With that, the four of them were gone. Driving off into the early morning hours after the team, hoping nothing would happen before they got there.

"We're about forty miles away." Brian informed Ashlynn after she answered her cell.

"What are you going to do?" She asked. "What can you do?"

"I don't know, but something. Just anything." Brian said, almost helplessly.

"Alright." She mumbled, hanging up on him.

The drive was quiet for the next few hours. It was about seven or so when they saw dirt fill the air and soon they passed Leon, who was helping Letty up to the Honda Civic he was driving.

"Oh God." Ashlynn muttered. "V?"

"Yeah Ash?" Venus asked, glancing at the other girl.

"Promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise me that no matter what happens, you'll follow Dom. Make sure he doesn't get caught, make sure nothing happens to him. He can't go back to jail, V."

"Ash, you can't ask me to do something like that."

"Venus, please. Promise me!"

Venus looked over at Ashlynn, the girl's eyes watering up as she fought hard not to cry. "Alright, I promise."

"Thank you."

They were gaining on the truck, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Venus pulled her car to the left, avoiding the top of Brian's car as he popped the hatch and let the roof fly off. Dom's car was swerved off the road, but all Ashlynn could see was Vince, his arm caught in the wire, bleeding profusely as the truck driver swerved back and forth.

"That boy is so fucking insane!" Venus exclaimed as they watched Brian jump from the Supra to the big rig.

"Oh shit!" Ashlynn cried as she watched Brian nearly throw Vince into the passenger side of the Supra before launching himself onto the back as the driver shot at them.

Venus drove off the road, stopping near the Supra, but Ashlynn didn't even wait for the car to fully stop before she threw herself out of it. She ran over to the Supra, helping Brian get Vince out of the car. They had him lying on his back and Brian was trying to slow the blood flow from Vince's arm when Dom ran up.

"If we don't get him to an ambulance in ten minutes, he's dead." Brian informed Dom, causing Ashlynn to whimper as Dom put pressure on Vince's gunshot wound. Brian pulled his phone out after ensuring that Mia had a good hold on the belt around Vince's bicep. "Yeah, yeah this is Officer Brian O'Conner. I'm off duty, MAPD. I need a life flight roll out right away!" Brian watched as Dom grew angry, but Vince was more important right now as he informed the person on the other end of his location and information on Vince.

Ashlynn watched in horror as Vince went into shock and Dom, Brian, and Mia held him down, still trying to slow the bleeding. Minutes later, the sound of chopper blades filled the air as the life flight arrived. They took Vince away, monitoring his wounds and vitals, and Ashlynn could only hope that he'd make it. Dom was yelling for her and Mia, but she didn't care, she barely noticed when Mia left, getting into the car with Dom.

"Ash, c'mon, there's nothing you can do for him here." Venus said, placing her hand on the taller girl's arm.

"Follow them V. I'll ride back with Brian." Ashlynn said, turning to face the other girl. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go. You follow Dominic, no matter what. Just be careful and don't get hurt."

"Alright, I'd better be seeing you soon."

"You will. Go V."

Venus nodded and ran back to her car and took off after the Honda.

Ashlynn turned to Brian and the two walked back to the Supra and they to were off after the Honda.

"Dom wants to kill me." Brian muttered.

"Yeah, that he does, but he won't." Ashlynn said softly.

"Why?"

"'Cause you just saved Vince's life."

Whatever Brian was going to say was cut off by Ashlynn's cell going off.

"Jesse!" She cried as she answered the phone. "Oh thank God you're alright! Where are you?"

"I'm on my way back to the Fort. I just freaked out. I didn't know what to do." Jesse said.

"Alright, good, I'll see you there. Be careful, alright?"

"Alright."

"Love you Jesse."

"Love you too Ashlynn."

"Jesse's alright?" Brian asked as she hung up.

"Yeah, on his way to the Fort, which is where we need to go, 'cause Dom needs to know Jesse's alright."

Brian nodded.

When they arrived at the Fort, Venus' car was parked on the left side of the street, Dom had the Charger out and a shot gun in hand. Brian pulled into the end of the driveway and blocked Dom's path. He got out of the Supra and pulled his gun, yelling at Dom to put the shotgun down and the he didn't want to call the cops.

"You are the cop! You are a cop!" Dom yelled back. "Brian I gotta find Jesse before they do! I'm-"

"Jesse's fine." Ashlynn interrupted. "He's on his way back here right now. Where are Leon and Letty?"

"They're on their way up to your place. Jesse gave it to all of us with directions in case something happened." Dom told her, relief in his voice at knowing Jesse was alright.

"Good. Brian, stop pointing that gun at my cousin." She said, turning as she heard a car pull up. "Jesse!"

"Dominic, I am so sorry." He said as he got out of his car, it sounded as though he'd been crying or fighting not to cry. "I don't know what I'm doing Dom! I'm so sorry, I'm so scared right now. I don't know what's going on!"

Ashlynn ran at Jesse, wrapping her arms around him tightly, mumbling over and over about how he was alright as Venus and Mia stepped outside.

"Jess, what were you thinking man?" Dom asked.

"I don't know, I panicked I'm sorry." Jesse said, hugging Ashlynn close, not seeming to notice the sound of motorcycles drawing closer.

Ashlynn turned, looking down the street as two motorcycles drew closer, one of the riders had a gun out, pointed at them, the other trying to hinder the first one. Without thinking, Ashlynn pushed Jesse to the ground, out of the way as bullets filled the air.


	13. Chapter 13

OMG, two updates in less the twelve hours. This is a sort of filler chapter, but pretty essential to the story itself. So Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I only own things not relative to the original storyline.**

This is a chapter especially for Venus.

Fast and the Furious 13

Venus had done as Ashlynn had asked her to. Followed Dom back to the Fort. Now she and Mia were inside, Dom was getting ready to go looking for Jesse, and she would be right behind him, just like Ashlynn had made her promise. She hated making promises like this, because she did her damnedest to make sure her promises were fulfilled. The sound of a car pulled Venus out of her musings. She heard yelling, it was Brian. Thank God, Ashlynn was here now. One less person to worry over. Now they just had to worry about Jesse and Vince, who was at the hospital already. Leon and Letty were on their way up to Ashlynn's house, Venus had given them the gate's entrance code like Ash would have done. Venus followed Mia out onto the porch after another car pulled up. They watched as Ashlynn ran at Jesse, holding him close as Dom and Jesse talked. Venus perked up at the sound of motorcycles, looking the same direction Ashlynn was as two motorcycles came around the bend. She felt her eyes widen as she saw the gun one of them carried, it was pointed at all of them. She was glad that Dom had called Hector, whoever that was, to take care of all of the things they'd left at Race Wars and make sure that Silver and Luciano were safe.

Bullets rang through the air, but she was frozen in place, not able to move as she watched Ashlynn push Jesse to the ground, but she didn't get away unscathed. Venus didn't know how, but somehow, she ended up crouched next to Mia, she's probably pulled Venus out of the way, but Venus didn't care. As soon as she sound of gunshots stopped, she was up, racing towards Ashlynn, she beat Dom to the fallen girl by seconds.

"Ash!" She screamed, fear in her voice as she saw two bullet holes in the girl's bareback. "Ash! Ashlynn!"

"Baby Girl! C'mon, don't you die on me!" Dom growled, angry at himself for everything that was happening. Carefully, he turned her over, there were no exit wounds. "Mia! Get towels and put pressure on her wounds!"

Mia disappeared in the house, returning seconds later with the towels, taking Dom's place holding Ashlynn as Jesse, who was dazed from hitting his head on the concrete, groaned and sat up slowly.

Brian got in his car and was off chasing after the motorcycles, Dom followed him seconds later, shotgun in hand, speeding down the street. Venus hated Ashlynn, hated the girl for what she'd been promised to do.

"Damn it Ash!" She hissed, tears in her eyes.

"V?" Ashlynn asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Ashlynn! Don't move, alright, just don't move." Venus said, brushing the girl's curly hair out of her face.

"Follow him V. Like you promised me." Ashlynn muttered, her eyes fluttering.

"Fuck that promise! You've been shot!" Venus snapped, her tears falling, despite her best efforts not to cry in front of Mia and Jesse.

"I'll be fine. I'm a tough bitch, you know it." Ashlynn wheezed. "You keep that promise V. Please."

Venus turned to Jesse, "Call 911, now!" Turning back to Ashlynn, she choked on her words as she spoke. "If you die on me, I'm… I'm going to bring you back just so I can kick your ass, you got me."

Ashlynn smiled despite the pain. "I got you. Just go. Mia's got me. Right Mia?"

"Right. I got you. I've got you and I'm not letting go until the paramedics get here." Mia said, looking from Ashlynn to Venus as her own tears fell.

Hearing Jesse on the phone, Venus stood up and walked to her car, got in and took off in the direction that Dom had gone. She sped along the roads, not bothering to stop at stop signs as she hoped to catch up to him. She heard the sound of a motorcycle and more gunshots as she quickly headed through the maze of streets trying to figure out what was going on. She turned a corner just in time to see Dom knock the gun holding motorcyclist down a hill, watching as the motorcycle and it's rider flipped down the hill, ending with the motorcycle landing on it's rider. She watched Dom get out of his car and look down at the heap lying near the base of the hill before he got back in his car and continued down the street after Brian. Venus followed after him, looking down to where Brian was standing, she saw him standing over the other motorcyclist and wondered briefly who it was and if they were dead or not, but she didn't have long to think because Dom was off, Brian right on his tail. Quickly, Venus followed after them. She sat, her car idling behind Dom's, listening to him talk to Brian.

"I used to drag here back in high school." He began. "That railroad crossing up there is exactly a quarter of a mile away from here. On green I'm going for it."

She listened to them rev their engines, watched them take off when the light turned green, and followed them down the quarter mile strip. She didn't bother to keep up with them, she just needed to keep them in her sights. She watched slightly mortified as they sped up as the train crossing rails came down and was in complete awe as they both beat the train by mere inches. By the time she'd gotten to the tracks, the train had passed and she watched as Dom flipped through the air after hitting the front end of a big rig.

"Shit!" She hissed as she sped over, getting out and heading over the totaled vehicle. "Dom!" She yelled, vaguely hearing Brian do the same, as she rushed up to the car.

"That's not what I had in mind." Dom said, breathing heavily before maneuvering himself out of the car through the window with Brian's help.

"C'mon, we gotta get you out of here." Venus said, watching Dom as he held his left arm, his shoulder visibly dislocated.

"Here." Brian said, holding out the key to the Supra.

"You know what you're doing?" Dom asked him as he took the key.

"I owe you a ten second car." Brian informed him.

"Ugh, neither one of you are listening. Look, Brian, take the car and either follow us or try to get the address from Mia." Venus hissed as she took the key from Dom and handed it back to Brian before grabbing Dom's uninjured arm and trying to pull him towards her car as the sirens steadily grew louder. "C'mon, I promised Ash I'd make sure your ass was safe and we gotta go. Now."

"It was Johnny." Brian mumbled.

"What was Johnny?" Venus asked, turning to face Brian again.

"The second guy, without the gun."

Venus froze.

"He should be fine, but he hit his head kinda hard."

"You couldn't have waited until we were out of the city to tell me that so I would have time to properly kick your ass?" Venus growled. "Look, we have to go. Now. No more stalling." She led Dom to her car and tried to shove him into the passenger seat. "Get comfortable, this is going to be a long drive." She told him before walking around to the driver side. "Are you coming or not Brian?"

"Probably best if I don't."

"Then keep your mouth shut. I've got a story for your police department. Tell them you don't know anything other than the team was being blackmailed and Lance was a part of it, got it?"

Brian looked at her like she was crazy.

"I don't have time for this shit. Do you got it?"

"I got it. The team was blackmailed, I don't know by who."

"Good. I'll be back as soon as my promise is fulfilled."

And with the Venus slid into the car and took off as the sirens got closer to the tracks. But that didn't matter as Venus navigated her way through streets she didn't know onto streets she recognized.

"How do I get to the highway?" She asked Dom as they came to a red light.

"At the next light, take a left and then at the second street make a right. You'll see the on ramp." He told her groggily, his breathing still heavy.

"Alright." Following Dom's directions, Venus made her way to the highway. Merging quickly into traffic, Venus slowly made her way home bound. "How bad is the pain?"

"Pretty bad."

"Shit."

"How's Ashlynn?"

"She was awake after you took off, told me to keep my fucking promise, Jesse was talking to the 911 dispatcher when I left." Venus informed him, rubbing her forehead above her right eyebrow.

"She's going to be alright." Dom said, though whether he actually believed his words, Venus wasn't sure.

"She's a stubborn bitch, I know she'll put up a hell of a fight." Venus muttered as she weaved in and out of traffic. "Ugh, people are so fucking slow!"

"No, you're just got twenty miles over the speed limit." Dom pointed out.

"Oh, shut up." She muttered before reaching over and opening the glove box, blindly feeling around for the bottle of painkillers she knew to be in the compartment as she kept her eyes on the road. Having successfully found said bottle of pain killers, she reached in the backseat where she knew there were a few bottles of water and grabbed two. "Here, it's not vicodin, but it'll help with the pain until we can get to the house and whatnot." She said as she handed him two of the pills before quickly opening a bottle of water for him.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked her after he took the pills.

"Because I made a promise to Ashlynn." She said before taking to pills herself for her growing headache.

"What kind of promise?"

"She made me promise that no matter what fucking happened, I'd follow you, make sure nothing happens, that you don't get caught and put back in jail." She told him passing people and merging into necessary lanes.

"You coulda let me take Brian's car a go off into Mexico like I planned, so why are you doing this?"

Venus sighed, slumping in her seat as she glanced in her rearview mirror. "Because Ashlynn is important to me and you're really all she has. Sure, there's your sister, your girlfriend, your friends, Jesse, and Johnny, but you're like her big brother. No one deserves to live life without their big brother."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

"Don't pity me. I don't take it well when people pity me."

"No pity, just a statement. So what happened?"

"I guess to really understand I'll have to tell you my life story. Outside Silver and Ashlynn, no one knows this story."

Dom just nodded.

Sighing, Venus began. "So, my brother was born on Halloween 1977. I was born on February 29, 1980. We were close growing up. We always did stuff together. He liked cars, I liked horses, we kinda taught each other about our hobbies. I know my fair share about cars, and he knew his fair share about horses. Our parents always encouraged us follow our dreams, yada, yada, yada. So, we did. Then, when I was turning fourteen, X was 16, I remember because he'd just gotten his license the month before, our parents had taken us out to celebrate my birthday. It was on the drive home when it happened. It was rainy that night, nothing too bad, but if you weren't paying attention, anything could happen. We came to the intersection, and it looked clear, so dad started to go… only, it wasn't clear. There was a big rig coming at us from the left, the driver wasn't paying attention, fiddling with something or other, didn't see the stop sign and plowed right into us. My parents had let me sit in the front seat that night, Dad was driving, Mom was sitting behind him, where I should have been, and X was sitting behind me. The paramedics and firefighters that arrived said our mother was DOA, at first, I didn't know what the meant, but I knew that it was bad and they were trying to keep us from knowing, but I figured it out. X knew straight away what it meant and he was holding me so tight as the firefighters used the jaws of life to get our dad out of the car paramedics were taking care of our cuts and scrapes. I remember they had to pull shards of glass from my arms before they could wrap them to stop the bleeding. X had a cut on his forehead. We both had bruises all over and they took us to the hospital to do X-Rays and crap to make sure we were alright." She paused to take a gulp of water. "We were there for hours before the doctors would say anything about our dad. An officer had already come to tell us that our mother was dead, I was crying, X had silent tears falling down his face. Then we were told that our dad was in a coma, fighting for his life, they didn't know if he was going to live or not. He was in a coma for about three months before he passed away. We'd been staying with Ash, at her father's insistence, despite the fact that her mother never liked me or X. Not that we liked her either. So, after dad passed away, we continued to live at Ash's place until X turned 18. After that, we were allowed to move back into our parent's house, as stated in their will. X had finished high school and gotten a job; he was a mechanic. I'm sure you two would have gotten along great. Anyway, so through this job as a mechanic, he got into the racing scene. It was pretty cool, sometimes he'd take me out with him and life continued to be good. But the Universe hates me, so it didn't last too much longer. It was after my sixteenth birthday, right before X's nineteenth birthday. He'd taken me to the races with him, he was going to let me race, I'd gotten my license not too long after my birthday passed, but he was going through a race first. So I sat in the passenger seat during his race, I hadn't bothered with a seat beat, neither had X, seeing as it was just a quarter mile straightaway, but we should have." She sighed, shaking as she relieved that night. "X was going to win, but one of the competitors didn't like that, they clipped the back end of the car pretty hard. X lost control of the car, we started rolling and somehow we ended up doing a flip, I remember screaming as I saw the asphalt through the cracked windshield before the car ended up back on the wheels and I was thrown through the broken windshield."

"You went through the windshield?" Dom asked, looking at her as though he were amazed. "How the hell are you still alive?"

"Yeah, through the windshield," She confirmed before gesturing to the multiple scars on her arms. "These are all from the glass, and there's more of them on my stomach, back, and legs. It was imbedded in my skin, along with rocks and dirt. Everyone said it was a miracle I was even alive. I felt like shit, but all I cared about was X. I tried asking the police officers about him, but my jaw had been dislocated, so it was just a jumble of noise. I passed out in the ambulance and didn't wake up until a week later in a hospital room. Ash and Silver were in the room with me, both asleep in chairs on either side of my bed. I looked like as fucking Egyptian mummy, so covered in bandages. I made a noise or something, 'cause Ashlynn woke up and her eyes went wide before tears started falling and she kept mumbling about how the doctors said the didn't know if or when I was going to wake up, but I was awake and she was so happy, but all I cared about was X, I needed to know that he was alright. I managed to whisper his name, and the smile that had been on her face vanished as she looked away from me and towards something on my right. I looked over and there was my brother, laying in another hospital bed, looking worse that me, and not awake. She said that he, too, was in a coma and the doctors didn't think he'd wake up from it. She told me that she'd be back, she was going to get a doctor, and had it not been for the situation, I probably would have laughed watching her try to get up out of that hospital chair; she was four months and a week pregnant I believe, she popped early, you could definitely tell she was pregnant." She smiled then. "But anyways, so the doctor came back with her about ten minutes later and checked me over and said I'd probably be just fine, but with the trauma I had sustained, there would be things I'd never be able to do again. So, through the painstakingly long process of physical therapy, I am here before you. I still have some issues and still go to some physical therapy sessions, but I'll never be one hundred percent the same as I was before."

"What about your brother?" Dom asked softly.

"He was getting better. Little by little, month by month, he was getting better. But the head trauma he sustained was too extensive, so said the doctors. There was very little brain activity, but I refused to pull the plug on him. That would have killed me. I was seventeen when X died. I would holding his hand, talk to him, tell him that I needed him, I wanted him to wake up for me because I didn't know what I was going to do without him. One day, during my visits to him, I crawled into that tiny hospital bed and I held my brother, I pet his hair, memorized his face, and I cried a little as I told him that if he needed to give up, it would be okay, _I_ would be okay, I had Ashlynn and Silver and even Luciano to help get me through. I told him that I loved him so much and that I wanted him to be with our parents instead of just lying in a hospital bed as a vegetable. And it was like he heard me, he let go even as I held onto him. And I swear that I saw him, his spirit standing next to me on that hospital bed as I held his body, he smiled at me and I heard his voice. He told me he loved me and that he was always going to watch over me. I'm twenty-one and to this day, I believe that he's watching over me. So, that kind of ends my story."

"That fucking sucks." Dom muttered, but Venus detected no hint of pity in his voice. "I have no idea what I would have done if that had happened to me."

"Yeah, well, I don't know how I did what I did." Venus said, sipping at her water.

"I admit, I may have not liked you before, but I have a newfound respect for you."

"Yeah? So, what's your story?"

"Nothing quite as emotionally challenging as yours," Dom began. "My mother died shortly after Mia was born. Our dad raised us as best as he could. He was a racer in the pro-stock circuit, and when he wasn't racing, he was spending time with me and Mia, making sure we got through school and such. He was making his way up in the circuit, it was the last race of the season, he was coming into the final turn when a driver named Kenny Linder tapped his bumper and put him into the wall at one hundred and twenty miles an hour. I remember him screaming as I watched him burn to death. People told me my father was dead long before the tanks blew, they said it was me screaming." Dom paused, looking out the window as if he were watching it happen. "About a week later, I saw Linder. I had a wrench in my hand, and I hit him. I didn't mean to keep hitting him, but by the time I was done, I couldn't lift my arm. He's a janitor at an elementary school. He has to take the bus to work… and they banned me from the tracks for life. Two years spent in Lompoc, and that leads to where we are now. Street racing, truck heists, all this bullshit."

"How did you deal with it?" Venus asked.

"I live my life a quarter of a mile at a time." He said, a soft smile on his face. "Nothing else matters. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free."

"So, why truck heists?" She asked as she changed lanes.

"It was only supposed to be the one, we could pay off the debt to Tran and then use the extra money, but I got addicted to the adrenaline rush that came with it." Dom told her shamefully.

"Well, it's all over now." She muttered as her stomach growled. "Guess we're getting food." She said as she changed lanes and took the next off ramp into a somewhat familiar town. "How do you feel about tacos?"

"Tacos are good."

"Good. I like tacos."

Dom chuckled, but said nothing as Venus drove through the semi-familiar town.

"Here we are." Venus announced as she pulled into the back parking lot of a small restaurant.

"Not using the front door?"

"Nope. I know these people."

"Should I be worried?"

"Ha ha, you're so funny." She said as she cut the engine and got out. "Let's go funny man."

Dom just smiled his crooked grin as he followed Venus to the back door, where she was already knocking on said door. Minutes later, the door opened revealing a young, Hispanic man of average height.

"Hey José, I need a favor." She said, pushing her way passed the boy, not bothering to wait for him to say anything. "C'mon Dom."

Dom followed Venus through the door, which was closed behind him as José let it close and turned his attention to Venus.

"What kind of favor?" The boys accent was thick as he spoke.

"Pop his shoulder back into place, for one, and for two, we need food and drink." Venus told him, sliding up onto a clean space of counter. "And then we'll be on our way."

José looked skeptically at Dom and then at Venus. "You want _me_ to pop _his_ shoulder back into place."

"That's what I said."

"Alright." He said with a shrug.

Minutes later, Dom's shoulder was popped back into place, but let's forgo the painful detail. José prepared them a few variety plates of tacos, a few bean and cheese burritos, and a large container of nachos. They were each given a few different bottled drinks to go with the food and were ushered out the door they'd come in through.

"This didn't happen. My mother would probably kill me." José told Venus.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything." She said as She and Dom walked back to her car.

After they were situated, Venus waved to José and they were off. They drove around to the only park Venus knew of in the little town and they ate their fill of the food they'd been given, decimating the amount of food in a short time.

"That was tasty." Venus announced before letting out a loud belch.

Dom smirked. "Nice."

"Why thank you." She said with a grin. "We should be off."

Dom nodded and followed Venus back to the car, throwing away their trash on the way. The two of them situated themselves in the car and were soon off again. The rest of the drive continued in a companionable silence, the two had come to an understanding; they both respected each other for the things they'd lived through.

"Hey, we're here." Venus said, nudging Dom's right shoulder as she stood outside the car, the passenger door open.

"Huh?"

"C'mon," She said, nudging him again. "Leon and Letty are inside, let's go. I have another favor to call in."

That seemed to wake him up, for he shot out of the car. Venus closed the car door and led the way into the house, turning on the lights controlled by dimmer switches. They found Letty and Leon in the living room, Letty was stretched out on one of the couches and Leon was sitting in one of the arm chairs, watching over the woman.

"How is she?" Venus and Dom asked simultaneously.

"Dom!" Leon exclaimed in surprise.

"Dom?" Letty called softly.

"I'm here Letty. I'm here." Dom said as he rounded the couch and crouched down next to his girlfriend. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit." She muttered.

"I'm going to make a call really quick." Venus said, stepping out of the room, but she might as well have not said anything, for no one seemed to have heard her. When she came back into the room, Dom was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, stroking Letty's hair and Leon was still watching over them, as if they would disappear if he wasn't paying attention. "Alright, a doctor friend of mine is going to be here in about an hour to take a look at Letty, but he said that for what she went through, all the tumbling, she should probably soak in a warm or hot bath, so let's go. I'll show you where the bathroom is."

Dom nodded as he gently scooped Letty up into his arms and followed Venus to one of the many bathrooms in the house. He was surprised at the magnificence of the house to begin with, but when he saw the bathroom, his jaw just about dropped. Most of the bathroom seemed to be made out of marble and the tub, a jaccuzzi, sat in a raise marble circuit with stairs curling around it; there was a fireplace next to it. The shower was on it's own entirely, possibly able to fit four people comfortably and still have room to move.

"This is Ashlynn's bathroom, the only one with a tub big enough to hold two people. I figure with as dazed as she is, you'll probably have to be in there with her. You can control the strength of the jets to you comfort, she'll probably need it." Venus said as she pulled out a stack of towels, setting them on the wide edge around the tub, next to washcloths, soap, and shampoo and conditioner. "Just call if you need anything. If I don't hear you, there's an intercom just there, next to the fireplace, you can just push the little red button, I know where to find you."

"Thanks." Dom said softly, watching as Venus walked to the door.

"I'll try and find clothes that'll fit you guys." She said, leaving before he could say anything else.

"Let, babe, can you stand?" He asked softly.

"Maybe." She mumbled, her eyes fluttering open.

"Just long enough for me to get the bath running."

"Alright."

Dom gently set her on her feet, keeping an arm around her to keep her steady as he started the water. "C'mon, let's get these dirty clothes off of you."

Carefully, Dom stripped Letty of her clothing before guiding her up the steps and helped her lower herself into the tub before he stripped himself of his clothes and slipped into the tub behind her. When the tub was full enough, he stopped the water and turned the jets on gentle mode. Letty sighed softly, relaxing back against Dom.

"We need a tub like this." She mumbled.

Dom chuckled. "Alright."

They sat, relaxing in the tub for a while before Dom grabbed a washcloth and the soap and began to gently was Letty's battered body.

"What happened after Leon and I left?"

"Ashlynn and Brian showed up at the house, Jesse showed up. Tran's cousin rode by and shot Ash. Brian and I went after them, Venus followed shortly after. I knocked Tran's cousin down a hill. Brian and I raced from the like to the tracks, you know that place I used to drag at back in high school?"

"Yeah."

"We almost got hit by a train. Then I totaled the Charger by hitting a semi. And then Venus brought me here."

"You almost got hit by a train?"

"Yeah, scared me pretty bad."

"I would hope so. You could have died."

"But I didn't."

"True."

"Knock, knock." Venus called through the door.

"Yeah?"

"There's clothes out here, they might be a little tight, but they're all I could find."

"Alright."

"She's alright. After you get past that bitch exterior." Lettly mumbled.

"People could say the same about you and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and was my hair."

Dom chuckled and did as she asked. Twenty minutes later, the tub was draining and Dom had dried himself off to go grab the clothing Venus had left them. Setting the clothes on the counter, Dom returned to Letty, helping her dry off.

"I _can_ do some things for myself, you know." She huffed.

Dom just smiled and kissed her, helping her over to the counter where he'd left the clothes. Ignoring her protests, Dom helped her dress in the clothing provided before dressing himself. They'd both been provided with sweatpants and tank tops. Soon, they were walking back into the living room where Venus sat on the phone with someone, speaking fast in what may have been Japanese. With a sigh, Venus hung up.

"That was Silver." She announced.

"How come you guys always talk in a different language?" Leon asked.

"Right now, it's mostly to keep Luciano from knowing exactly what's going on." Venus said softly. "They haven't been contacted by the police yet. Which is good. Jesse called me from Ashlynn's phone. Vince is stable, they've got police watching him, but I'm going to take care of that. Ashlynn is in surgery, and apparently, so if Johnny. I guess Brian shot him and it caught his side." She took a deep breath as she stood up. "As soon as my doctor friend gets here and looks over Letty, I'm going back down to sort everything out."

"How do you intend to do that?" Letty asked, leaning against Dom.

"I'm going to blame Marcos." Venus muttered, her eyes narrowing at something they couldn't see. "That stupid piece of shit. Anyways, kitchen, right through there, it's stocked up. Just don't eat my chocolate, or this effort will have been in vain, for I'll kill you."

Just then, a buzz sounded. Venus walked over to the intercom and pushed a button to stop the buzzing and then a little black one before speaking into the speaker. "Andrew?"

"You called, here I am." Came an accented voice.

"You alone?"

"No one but me, I swear it."

"You better be, or I'm going to castrate you with a rusty spoon." Venus muttered before pulling a clicker out of her pocket and pushed the button, opening the gate outside for Andrew to enter the premises.

Minutes later, a side door to the house opened and a man in his late twenties entered the living room. He was average height, shaggy brown hair, light green eyes, slightly built.

"Andrew, thanks for this." Venus muttered.

"You sure you're not the one who needs to be looked over. You just thanked me." He joked.

Venus growled at him, not bothering to say anything.

"Nevermind, you're just fine."

"That's what I thought." She muttered before motioning to Letty. "She's the one you're here to check up on."

"Can we turn the lights up?" He asked as he set his medical back on the coffee table.

Venus slid the dimmer switch up, lighting up the living room as she watched Andrew carefully. "Not one word gets said about this Andrew."

"I know the drill Venus, don't worry, my lips are sealed." He told her before turning his attention to Letty. "What is the extent of the damage?"

"Feels all superficial." She muttered. "Nothing feels broken."

"Alright, if you could just sit down." He said, gesturing to the seat next to him. He waited for Letty to sit down before he went through his procedures. Thirty minutes later, he declared that nothing was in fact broken, she would just be sore for a few days. "You may have a concussion, so just to be on the safe side, you should stay awake for the next twenty-four hours."

"Whatever you say Doc." Letty muttered as she yawned.

"Check his shoulder, too." Venus piped up, pointing at Dom.

"What happened to it?"

"It was dislocated. He has a couple scratches, but other than that, I think he's fine." Venus informed Andrew,

So, Andrew did as asked and took a look at Dom's shoulder, proclaiming it would be sore and possibly swollen for a few days, but would be just fine.

"Alright, that's all I needed, no get out. I have important things to get to." Venus muttered, rushing Andrew out the door before turning back to the three guests. "I'll have Mia pack some of your stuff and have Silver bring it up when I get back down there." She wrote her cell number down on a post-it. "My number in case anything should happen." And with that, she was gone.


	14. Chapter 14

Another update! I'm sure many of you are wondering what's going to happen and, well, you may or may not find out in this chapter. I do hope you enjoy. Send me a review or a message telling me what you think.

**Disclaimer: Look in the previous chapters.**

On with the chapter.

Fast and the Furious 14

Jesse didn't know what to do, only one of them was allowed to go in the ambulance with Ashlynn. He told Mia to go, she was family, but Mia insisted that he go and she would wait for Dom. So here he was, in the waiting room of the hospital waiting for news on Ashlynn. He'd found out what happened to Vince as he was pacing down the hallways after they'd taken Ashylnn into surgery. There were two police officers standing outside the door and Jesse talked the story out of them. Deep lacerations and nerve damage to the right arm and a gunshot wound to the left side of his low abdomen, but he would recover. His arm would probably never function one hundred percent the same, but he'd still be able to use it. He was still knocked out from the anesthesia, but he'd be awake in a few hours. Or so they'd told him.

Now, he was sitting in the waiting room, four or so hours later, Ashlynn's cell phone in his hand. One of the nurses had brought it out to him. Where the hell had Ashlynn hid it that no one had seen it before? How the hell had she hid it? That didn't matter now, he told himself. What mattered now was getting ahold of Venus. He scrolled through the contacts until he found Venus' number. She picked up after the first ring.

"Hello?"

"It's Jesse."

"How is she?"

"In surgery. I haven't been told anything. What's going on with Dom?"

"He rolled the Charger. His shoulder was dislocated. He's in the bath with Letty right now."

"Letty and Leon are alright?"

"Yeah, Leon and Letty are alright. Letty's banged up and bruised, but I'm having a doctor friend come look at her to make sure nothing is broken."

"That's good."

"Leon's asking about Vince. Do you know how he is?"

"They got cops outside his room. They told me that he's stable, he's was going to be unconscious for another few hours until the anesthesia wore off. The lacerations on his arm caused nerve damage, but he should still be able to use it after he heals."

Jesse listened as Venus relayed the information and heard Leon say something, but couldn't be sure what the words were.

"Look, I'm coming back down, where's the hospital, I'll figure out how to get there."

"Mia's at the house still, she stayed there to wait for Dom. If you go back to the house and pick her up, she'll get you here."

He heard Venus sigh. "Alright. I'll be leaving soon, so I'll be back there in a few hours."

"I'll be here."

"Alright."

Jesse sighed as he hung up. It was going to be a long night. A very long night.

Silver didn't know these people, but apparently Ashlynn's cousin sent them to take care everything and she and Luciano were to go with them. Silver was hesitant, but they needed to move fast so she went with them. Luciano was still asleep when she moved him from the trailer into her car, not even waking at the movement.

"Who are you and where are we going?" She had asked.

"I'm Hector, Dominic called me to get all their stuff they left here last night." One of the guys explained. "He said to make sure you and the kid were safe. We're going to my mama's house. Safest place I know."

That's how they ended up in another place they didn't know. Luciano had woken up on the drive from the desert to the house they were at now.

"Auntie Silver, where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe Luc."

"What's going on?"

"I'm not sure."

"Where's Mamma?"

"I don't know."

The rest of the drive was quiet, except for the Avenged Sevenfold cd playing softly. When they got to the house, Silver didn't let Luciano out of her sight. For the first hour, she held him, not letting go of him in the small house as they were surrounded by strangers. They were fed, given use of the bathroom, and Luciano was given free reign of the television. When Silver finally let Luciano down, she didn't let him stray from her sight, always keeping him in sight as she listened to the conversations being held.

"What's going on?" She asked Hector softly from where she stood in the doorway watching Luciano stare at the television.

"The heist went bad. Vince is in the hospital. Letty and Leon are gone. Apparently to Ashlynn's house." Hector informed her quietly. "Other than that, we're not sure what's been happening."

"Do you know where Ash and Venus are?"

"When Dom called, Venus was at the Fort and Ashlynn was with the snowman."

Silver nodded.

"We'll be in the garage, making sure everything is taken care of." Hector said, pointing to the door leading to the garage.

"Alright." She said softly.

Luciano didn't know exactly what was going on, but he knew it wasn't good. He knew that he was in a place he didn't know. He knew that Auntie Silver was with him, hardly letting him out of her sight. He knew that Mamma's car was outside, but Mamma wasn't with him. In fact, he was fairly sure the Dom's and Leon's cars were outside too, maybe Letty's too, but he couldn't be sure. They weren't here either. Everyone was talking in hushed voices around him. Whenever he wandered into a room, they would whisper or stop talking. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. No one would answer him when he asked where everyone was or what was going on. Just because he was only four didn't mean he didn't deserve to know what was going on.

Auntie Silver was on the phone, but she was speaking Japanese and he only understood a few words. None of those words were able to tell Luciano what was going on. He was confused when Auntie Silver picked him up with tears in her eyes after getting off the phone with who Luciano assumed was Auntie Venus. He was even more confused as she carried him into the kitchen and sat him down in one of the counter bar stools and kissed his forehead.

"Stay here, alright?" She said softly.

"Why? Auntie Silver, what's happening. Where's Mamma?" He asked her, watching as her eyes filled with more tears that threatened to fall.

"Auntie Venus is going to explain everything when she gets here, alright?" Silver asked him, petting him hair.

"When will that be?"

"I'm not sure, but she's going to be here, or we'll go meet her somewhere and she'll explain everything, ok?"

Luciano nodded. "Ok."

"Good, now stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes." Silver said before walking out of the kitchen.

Luciano didn't like not knowing. He didn't like not knowing where his Mamma was. He didn't like not knowing why Auntie Silver was crying. And he really didn't like not knowing what was going to happen. He wanted to follow after Auntie Silver, he wanted to know what was happening, but doing as his Mamma taught him, he was going to stay where he was like Auntie Silver had told him.

Silver walked into the garage cautiously, gaining the attention of a few of the guys. One of them yelled for Hector in Spanish, saying something about the hot woman coming into the garage.

"Tu puedo enteder idiota," She said with a roll of her eyes as Hector walked through the open garage door.

"Something wrong?" Hector asked, glancing between the man that called him and Silver.

"No." Silver answered, turning her attention to Hector. "Venus just called me. Dom's at the house, with Letty and Leon. She's coming back down. She's apparently got a story for the police that is going to clear the team." She rubbed her temples with a sigh. "Ashlynn is in the hospital; two gunshot wounds courtesy of Johnny Tran's cousin. Jesse is safe and Vince is stable."

"You gonna tell the little guy?" Hector asked.

"No, Venus is. She insisted that she be the one to tell him." Silver said softly. "Just thought I'd let you know, seeing as you're close with Dominic."

"Gracias por decirme." Hector said with a nod.

Silver nodded before going back inside to sit with Luciano until Venus got back into town.

Venus mumbled to herself as she finally pulled up in front of the Fort. She'd take a few wrong turns, delaying her further, but she was here. Getting out, she walked up to the door and banged on it before walking right it.

"Mia!" She called, looking in the living room and glancing up the stairs as she shut the door.

"Kitchen!" Mia called back.

Venus walked into the kitchen to find Mia cleaning up what appeared to be a mess of food remnants. "What happened in here?"

"I cook when I'm nervous and I made quite the mess."

"Ah.. You know where Hector lives?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"We have to pick Luciano up. I have to tell him what's going on."

"What _is_ going on?"

"Letty and Leon are fine, Dom's with them. I don't know if Jesse called you, but Vince is stable and Ashlynn was in surgery when I talked to him."

"Brian?"

"I don't know. He was going to give Dom the car so Dom could run, but I intervened and put my plan into action. After that, I don't know what happened to him. He's most definitely in trouble with his superiors, but I don't know what's going on with him."

Mia nodded as she wiped off the counter.

"C'mon, we gotta go." Venus said as she turned around.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Mia asked as she followed Venus out of the house.

"I'll explain on the way, just get in the car." Venus told her as she walked around to the driver side and got in.

Mia looked indecisive for a few seconds before she got in the car as Venus started the engine.

"You'll have to give me directions to Hector's." Venus mumbled as they took off.

"Go out to the main street and take a right." Mia said softly, buckling herself quickly as Venus sped down the street. "So, what are you going to do?"

"First and foremost, from this point on, all you tell anyone is that you know nothing. The police ask you questions, you tell them that no one informed you of anything, got it?"

"Yeah. Take a left after the next street."

"Good. So, We're going to pick up Luciano, we're going to the hospital. No doubt the police will be there, seeing as they have to guarding Vince. You're going to stay with Jesse and Luciano, you're not going to tell that boy anything, I am. Then, I'm going to talk with the police, don't worry about what I tell them, the less you know, the better. And after I get them cleared, Silver is going to take you home, you're going to pack clothing for Dom, Letty, and Leon and she's going to take you to Ashlynn's house. You're going to stay there until I say so."

"Take the left up here and then another left after that, the house is on the right." Mia said softly. "So, you're going to harbor criminals in Ash's house until what? The cops decide your story doesn't work or they just don't believe you period?"

"You're not criminals, you're family. And it's not harboring, it's protecting. I made a promise to Ash, and in order to keep that promise, I have to do all of this." Venus said as she parked her car and cut the engine.

"So, you're doing this because you're obligated to."

"No. I'm doing this for reasons I'm not going to explain to you."

And with that, Venus got out of the car, leaving Mia to follow her up to the open garage.

"Hector," Called one of the two guys in the garage. "Una mujer sexy está aqua."

"No soy gilipollas sordo, yo entiendo lo que está diciendo." Venus hissed as she glared at the man.

"Is there a problem?" Hector asked as he walked out from the house.

"I'm here for Silver and Luciano." Venus told him, doing her best to not look at Ashlynn's car.

"You're Venus?" He asked.

"Yes, I am. Where's the squirt?" She asked.

"Prove it." Hector said, crossing his arms.

"UGH! I don't have time for this!" Venus snapped.

"It's her Hector." Mia said from behind the enraged girl.

"Venus?" Silver's voice came from the door.

"Silver, where's the squirt? We gotta go." Venus said, looking over at the shorter girl.

"Auntie Venus!" Luciano cried as he pushed passed Silver and ran at Venus.

"Hey kiddo." She said as she picked him up. "Watch the cast, I don't need a bigger headache."

"Auntie V, what's going on?" He asked her softly, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm going to explain everything in a little bit, but we have to go now." Venus said, turning towards her car again. "Silver, we gotta go."

Venus grabbed the spare booster seat out of her trunk and situated it in the back seat before putting Luciano in the car and buckling him up. She quickly got in the front seat, Mia next to her, watching as Silver got in her car before starting the engine.

"I'm going back out to the main road, you give me directions from there." Venus mumbled to Mia. The ride was silent except for Mia's directions and they soon arrived at the hospital.

"Auntie V, why are we here?" Luciano asked as they all got out of the car.

Before Venus could answer, someone cleared their throat behind her, and if Mia's narrowed eyes were anything to go on, it was Brian. Growling softly, Venus turned to look at him.

"What?" She snapped.

"The officers heading the investigation would like to talk to you at the station." He told her.

"Can't this wait?" She growled.

"They've been waiting for hours, they're adamant on seeing you asap." He told her. "If it was up to me, you wouldn't have to, but it's not up to me."

"Fine." She mumbled angrily. "Luc, go with Mia and Silver."

"No!" Luciano cried as he latched himself onto her leg. "You said you would tell me what's going on! I wanna go with you!"

Venus looked down at the young boy to tell him that he couldn't, but the tears in the boy's eyes stopped her. "Alright." She looked back at Silver and Mia and gestured towards the hospital. "Go makes sure everything is alright."

When the two had disappeared inside, Venus looked at Brian. "So, you have to bring me in?"

"I was told to wait for anyone to show up, but they wanted the person that Dom get away with, that's you." Brian said, leading her to the police car. "They were mighty pissed. And they want to know how someone who has only known the Toretto team for the span of about a day knows that the team was blackmailed, while I have been undercover on said team for months and not known."

"Tche, let's hope they buy in to what I'm selling." Venus muttered as she slid into the front seat, Luciano on her lap.

"That's so not safe." Brian muttered.

"So long as you don't plan on crashing, we're fine." Venus told him, pulling the seatbelt around herself and Luciano.

Brian didn't say anything as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Auntie V," Luciano said softly. "Are you going to tell me what happened now?"

Venus sighed softly. "Guess I should."

Luciano leaned back against her as he looked up at her face.

"When your mom left last night, I went with her, I was driving. And we found some bad stuff happening. After the bad stuff was taken care of, we went back to Dom's house. You remember how Jesse left after his race?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he showed up after we did and not too long after that two people on motorcycles drove by. One of them was Johnny. The other was his cousin, Lance. Johnny was trying to stop Lance, but he couldn't." Venus said softly. "Lance had a gun and he started shooting at everyone. Your mom protected Jesse by pushing him to the ground, but she got shot."

"Is Mamma okay?" Luciano whimpered, tears in his eyes.

"I don't know, kiddo." Venus whispered. "I really don't. I hope she's alright, but I couldn't tell you."

"Is Mamma gonna die?" He asked as his tears fell.

"I hope not." Venus told him, her own eyes filling with tears. "I don't know what I would do if I lost your mom."

"We're here." Brian said gently as he pulled into a parking stall and cut the engine.

Venus wiped her face to makes sure no tears had fallen and unbuckled herself and Luciano, holding him as she got out of the car. She followed Brian into the building and to where his superiors were waiting.

"Tanner, Bilkins." Brian greeted. "This is Venus, the one you guys wanted to talk to."

"This is the girl who interfered with the investigation and broke the law by harboring a fugitive?" Bilkins asked. "The one who says these people were blackmailed?"

Venus glared at the older man as she held Luciano close. "Don't try to subtly insult me right in front of me. I don't appreciate it."

"Venus, these are my superiors, Sergeant Tanner and Agent Bilkins." Brian informed her, gesturing to each in turn.

"How long is this going to take?" Venus asked.

"What's it matter to you, have more fugitives to aide?" Bilkins shot at her.

Venus stared at the man. "If you want a fugitive, look at Tran's cousin Lance, or find Marcos Garcia-Rivera. I'm not aiding fugitives. I'm protecting family."

"Not your family." Bilkins pointed out before Tanner could speak.

"You're right, they're not my family. They're Ashlynn's family, they're this kid's family." Venus said in a clipped tone as she sat down in one of the chairs.

"So why did you help Toretto?" Tanner asked.

"I made a promise. I'm fulfilling that promise."

"How do you know that Toretto was being blackmailed?" Bilkins questioned.

"Well, I can't say I actually know that for sure. It was more of an assumption." Venus started, pausing to glare at Bilkins who had opened his mouth. "Don't say anything until I'm finished." She paused again. "Good. Anyways, we were at Race Wars yesterday and a fight broke out between Dom and Johnny. During that time, Marcos, Luciano's father, had snuck up to where the team's stuff was at and when the commotion had died down, we heard Luciano screaming. Ashlynn and I rushed over, Silver was on the ground and Luciano was gone from sight. Now, that had been some sort of revenge plot against Ashlynn for pissing him off to the point that he hit her. Brian here rendered the asshole unconscious and security had him removed from the premises." Venus paused, looking thoughtful. "Lance had his own issues, those snakeskin pants being one of them, but when we showed up to visit, he wasn't particularly happy. Especially after Johnny started spending time with me. I don't think anyone else noticed, but I saw the glares he sent me when he thought no one was looking. Anyway, rewind a little bit, before the fight between Dominic and Johnny, Jesse had raced Johnny for slips. He lost, he freaked out and-"

"Yeah, we've been briefed on that." Bilkins cut in, causing Venus to glare at him.

"Auntie Venus hates being cut off." Luciano muttered from where he sat on the woman's lap.

"As I was saying," Venus growled. "Jesse freaked out and took off. So I assume that Lance decided that the rest of the team needed to pay for Jesse taking off. But that's getting a little ahead of the story.-"

"Well get to the relevant part." Bilkins snapped.

"Look asshole, my _best friend_ is in the fucking hospital, _I_ want this over even more than _you_ do. So shut the hell up and let me fucking talk." Venus snapped back. "_Anyways_, Vince had disappeared, I didn't really care, 'cause to be honest, I don't really like the guy, the rest of the team thought nothing of it. I guess they thought he was off getting lucky with some, what's the word, racer chaser? Yeah, one of them. So, no one thought about it until it got to the early hours of the morning and the rave was going on and he was still nowhere to be seen. I guess the team searched for him and didn't find him because then they left. Ashlynn got upset and Brian had been looking for Mia and then we all left, except Silver, she stayed with Luciano, but we went after the team. When we found them, they were just coming up to this rig, Vince was dangling from it. They were trying to get Vince off the truck, but the driver kept swerving and shooting at them. I wouldn't be surprised if he was paid off by Marcos or someone beforehand to hurt Vince. So, none of them were able to do it. Then crazy ass here," She waved a hand at Brian. "Jumps from his car to the damn truck, frees Vince, then throws Vince and himself back to his car as Mia's driving. Ashlynn's freaking out as we pull of the road after them. And after Vince is air lifted to the hospital, we all end up back at the Toretto house. I heard Brian yelling and then Ashlynn said something, Jesse pulled up and Mia and I walked outside. Ashlynn was ecstatic. And then we heard the motorcycles." Venus paused, swallowing hard as she stared at the wall as if she were reliving the scene, and she most definitely was. "Johnny was trying to stop him, but he wasn't able to. Lance opened fire and I was froze, watching as Ashlynn shoved Jesse to the ground. She got two gunshots to the back for her effort of protecting him. Mia had pulled me down out of firing range, but as soon as the shooting stopped, I was at Ash's side. Dom turned her over, but she was unresponsive, he yelled at Mia to get towels. Then Brian disappeared and Dom soon after. Mia was holding Ash and I was talking to her, hoping she would wake up. And she did. She told me to keep the stupid fucking promise. And I did." She paused to take a couple deep breaths.

"Why?" Tanner asked. "I mean, she's your best friend, but why keep the promise if you seem to hate as much as it sounds like you do?"

Venus looked at him, her head tilted to the right slightly. "Do you have family, Sergeant Tanner?"

"Yeah."

"I don't."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't. I don't like the pity in your eyes and voice. I don't have a family. Ashlynn is all I have left. We're best friends. We would die for each other. If I could have, I'd have taken those bullets for her, but I can't change the past. So, I kept my promise because she's all I have, and because I take my promises seriously. I don't make a promise without fully intending to keep that promise. I kept my promise. And I'm going to continue to keep my promise if I have anything to say about it." Venus said matter-of-factly.

"What happened to your family?" Tanner asked.

"Is that really relevant?" Bilkins snapped.

"At this point? Possibly." Tanner said before turning his attention back to Venus.

"They all died." She said, taking a deep breath. "You probably heard about it. The Russo family."

"Russo? As in the Russo neurosurgeons?" Tanner asked. "Those Russo's?"

"Ah, yeah, those were my parents." Venus said, as if the reminder of her lost family didn't faze her. "Why?"

"I knew your parents. I met you once. You were too young to possibly remember, but I remember you now. You and your brother, Xander, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that was my brother."

"How is this relevant?" Bilkins snapped.

"Well, let's put it this way. My brother and I were in a car crash, I went through the windshield. I shouldn't be alive. There were only two people there for me through everything that happened after that accident. Ashlynn and Silver. So, I guess it puts everything into perspective as to why I've done what I have to protect her family." Venus hissed.

There was a knock on the door that cut off anything Bilkins was about to say.

"Come in." Bilkins ordered.

"Sir, the suspect is saying something about being paid off by a," The officer paused to look down at his notepad. "Marcos Garcia-Rivera."

"That's just too coincidental." Bilkins muttered.

"Doesn't mean it's any less true." Tanner said.

"How do we know she didn't talk to the suspect before hand?"

"Because she wasn't here." Brian said, speaking for the first time since the introductions had been made. "She didn't even know we had a suspect in custody."

"You're already on thin ice, so you just keep your mouth shut." Bilkins ordered.

"Look, I'd like to get to the fucking hospital to see what's going on." Venus snapped. "So let's finish this discussion. I kept my promise to Ashlynn. I took Dom, I'm not telling you where, that would defeat the purpose of getting him out of town. Anyways, I took him to keep him from you guys, but also to keep him safe from whoever else Marcos had hired, because I'm sure Lance wasn't the only one."

"Where does the blackmail come into play?" Bilkins asked, arms crossed.

"The team had a debt to the Trans. They could have paid it off with cuts from the shop and winnings from Race Wars and the night races, but someone got to Vince. Vince talked the rest of the team into hijacking the trucks because it would be a quick way to get the shop out of trouble. Now, they hijacked three trucks. That's about or more than six million dollars worth of merchandise. They would have only needed to 'jack one truck and have enough money to pay the debt maybe twice. So they only needed the one truck, but the person who had got to Vince confronted the whole team, well, except Mia, she was so oblivious it was kinda sad. But anyways, that person confronted the team and threatened to out them to the police unless they 'jacked more trucks, so, there you go, there's the blackmail."

"How do you know this?" Tanner asked.

"Dominic told me."

"He told you?" Bilkins asked suspiciously. "Someone he's known barely a full day."

"Well, it was a long drive." Venus told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We might have not known each other long, but we have a respect for each other, and it was due to this respect that he told me."

"So, who was the blackmailer?" Tanner asked.

"Marcos." Venus said simply.

"Why does it seem that everything comes down to this guy?" Bilkins asked.

"Because he's a dick?" Venus muttered. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, you can go." Tanner cut in before Bilkins could say anything.

"We may need you to answer further questions." Bilkins called as she walked out the door.

"Whatever." She muttered. "Brian, you're driving us back, let's go."


	15. Chapter 15

So, this is a pretty short chapter, but it is important nonetheless. For those of you wondering about Ashlynn, your questions will be answered. Or, I hope they will.

And just 'cause I want to point this out; I kinda based the doctor off of Ducky from NCIS.

**Disclaimer: Review the previous chapters, because nothing has changed.**

So, on with the chapter.**  
**

Fast and the Furious 15

The ride back to the hospital had been silent. Luciano curled up in Venus' lap and she held onto him as she tried to distract herself to ensure that she wouldn't cry. When they had reached the hospital, Brian pulled into the parking stall next to Venus' car, but didn't bother cutting the engine.

"There better not be police officers stationed outside Vince's room. And if there are, they better not try and stop me." Venus told Brian as she unbuckled herself and Luciano.

"Can't make any promises." Brian said with a shrug. "I'm not gonna have authority over them much long."

"Why's that?" Venus asked as she fixed Brian with a blank stare.

"Heading out. Running, I guess you could say. Already in trouble with my superiors, might as well get out of town now."

"Have fun with that then." Venus said as she opened the door. "Call first, if you decide to bring trouble." And with that, she was out of the car, Luciano in her arms, walking towards the hospital entrance. Brian just grinned, watching until Venus walked through the doors before he took off.

Venus sighed as she made her way up to the Nurse's Station, balancing Luciano on her hip as she tried getting the attention of the woman behind the desk.

"Excuse me," She said politely, deciding that it would simply be easier if she were polite through everything. She was ignored. She hated being ignored. "Excuse me." She repeated a little louder. Still she was ignored. Taking a deep breath, Venus tried to keep calm, but it really wasn't working. "Hey! Lady! I need some help here!" She snapped.

"No need to snap." The woman said as she looked up from her magazine. "What do you need?"

"The same thing I needed when I walked up and said excuse me, which you ignored. I need to know the room number for Vincent Castello." Venus told the woman with a glare.

"I can't give you that information unless you're family." The woman stated. "Are you family?"

"He's my brother-in-law." Venus lied smoothly.

"Can you prove that?"

"Can you prove that you're not incompetent?"

"Would you like to be thrown out of the hospital?" The woman asked snootily.

"Would you like to be punched in the face?" Venus hissed, her anger rising once again.

"When are we gonna see Uncle Vinny?" Luciano asked timidly from here he rested on Venus' right hip.

"Soon as the rude lady gives me his room number, kiddo." Venus told him, not removing her glare from the woman.

"Unless you can prove that you're family, I can't provide you with the room number." The woman said haughtily.

Venus growled and was about to launch herself over the desk when Mia came running down the hall.

"Venus! There you are. We've been waiting for you to get here." She said as she came to a stop next to the desk, taking a few deep breaths. "The family's waiting."

Venus shot the woman a smirk. "Told you. I think I'll be talking to someone about you're unhelpfulness." She said before turning to Mia. "Lead the way."

Mia led Venus to the elevator, up to the third floor, to the waiting room where Silver and Jesse were still sitting in silence. Venus set Luciano down next to Jesse as she glanced from the boy to her friend.

"What's the news?" She asked softly.

"Ashlynn's still in surgery." Jesse whispered. "Johnny is in recovery."

"Where's Vince's room?"

"Down the hall, around the corner. Third door on the left." Jesse mumbled as he toyed with Ashlynn's phone.

"I'll be back." Venus said before she disappeared, following Jesse's directions to Vince's room. She was pleased to see that there were no policeman stationed at the door; she'd really hate to get arrested on assault charges. Vince was half awake as Venus slipped into the room. She watched as his bleary gaze turned to her. "Drugs are still in your system then." She muttered as she pulled a chair to his bedside and sat there, watching him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" He forced out, his mouth feeling like cotton.

"I'm here to fill you in on everything that's been happening." Venus informed him. "You'll probably be happy to know that the police are no longer watching over you like a hawk. For now at least."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know how long the story I told the cops and the Fed is gonna hold. Hopefully long enough to get you out of here."

"Why?"

Venus took a deep breath and sighed just as deeply, trying to keep her emotions in check. Now was not the time for her to break down. She could break down later. "Look, you're not going to like this. I don't particularly care, 'cause I don't like you, but you need to know."

"Know _what_?"

"After you were airlifted here, all of us ended up back at the house and Brian was trying to stop Dominic from going out and doing something he'd probably have regretted. Brian's a cop, by the way." Venus began, ignoring Vince's 'I knew it!' as she continued. "Don't know how much longer he's going to be a cop though. Seeing as he was gonna let Dominic go; well, he did actually. But I'm rambling now and I need to get back on point. We were at the house. Jesse showed up a few minutes after Ashlynn and Brian did and Mia and I walked outside, and then Lance and Johnny came speeding up the street. Lance had a gun and Johnny was trying to stop him, but-" Venus broke off and took another deep breath, it was one thing to say that her best friend had been shot, but now that she was in the hospital and said friend was in surgery, it made it that much more surreal. "Lance opened fire and Ashlynn protected Jesse and got two shots to the back."

"Tell me Baby Girl's alright."

"She's still in surgery. I don't know what's going on. It's been hours since she was brought in. She should be out of surgery now, but she isn't. Back to my explanation; Brian took off after Lance and Johnny, Dominic soon after, and Ashlynn made me keep my promise and I followed Dominic. Dominic took out Lance, who was at the police station when I was there about twenty minutes ago. And Johnny is in recovery, Brian shot at him, caught him in the side and I guess he hit his head pretty hard. Then Dominic and Brian were off. I followed them to this light; Dominic said he used to drag there in high school."

"I remember that." Vince cut in. "It's exactly a quarter mile from the light to the tracks."

"Yeah. That place. Anyway, so, when the light turned green, he and Brian went for it, I just kinda followed along, watching them. Then, this fucking train is coming and Brian and Dominic barely, and I mean _barely_, make it across the tracks. When the train had passed, I continued over the tracks, only to see Dominic flip the Charger. Head on collision with a big rig." Venus sighed and slouched in the chair. "His shoulder was dislocated and Brian helped him out of the car, sirens were getting closer and Brian handed Dom the key to the Supra and Dom was gonna take it, but I intervened."

"Why?"

"Had to keep my promise to Ash, and I knew that letting him go off into Mexico would not be considered fulfilling my promise. So, I gave the key back to Brian, dragged Dominic off with me. He's up at Ash's house with Leon and Letty. They're fine, 'cause I know you're going to ask." Venus said, straightening out in the chair as her back began to protest. "Letty's banged up from the rolling her car did, but other than bruising, soreness, and swelling, she'll be fine. And then I came back so that I could tell the police 'what happened'. I just don't know how long the story is going to hold."

"What do you mean?"

"I told them that the team was blackmailed. You were convinced into hijacking a truck and, in turn, you convinced the team; it was just going to be the one truck, more than enough to pay off the debt, but the person who convinced you to 'jack the trucks blackmailed you and the team into 'jacking more trucks, otherwise they were going to turn you into the police."

"And just who is this person that 'blackmailed' us?" Vince asked, his tone verging on sarcastic.

"Marcos Garcia-Rivera."

"And who is that?"

"To most people, he's just a nobody in the racing scene, but Ash, S, and I went to school with him." Venus said, pausing as she looked Vince in the eye. "He's Ashlynn's ex-boyfriend."

Recognition flashed through Vince's eyes. "He's the kid's father? He's the one that hit Ash?"

"One in the same." Venus said with a nod. "So, that's the story. You were blackmail. If the story flies, we're good as gold, if not, well, we'll get to that when it comes to pass. But for now, I have to send Silver home with Mia, with clothes for the other three."

"So, you're going to hide us?" Vince asked.

"No, we're going to protect you. That's what family does." Venus replied. "You're Ashlynn's family, and Ashlynn is my family."

"And what if the story falls through, if they decide that it doesn't work?" Vince asked.

"Damn, you sound like Mia." Venus muttered. "Look, we only need it to last long enough for you to be discharged and out of the city. Then from there, you can go to Ash's house or you can disappear, but we're not going to worry about that just now."

"Why are you being so… nice?" Vince asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm channeling my inner Ashlynn." She said, standing up and stretching. "They say that you've got some nerve damage because of the wire. You'll still be able to use it, probably with the help of some physical therapy. Aren't you lucky that I know one."

Vince snorted.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either." There was a pause. "So. Now that I've told you all I need to tell you, I'm gonna go. I'll have Jesse come in or something. Have him keep you updated on Ash."

Vince just nodded and Venus slipped out the door. She made her way back to the waiting room where the others were sitting.

"How is he?" Mia asked.

"Awake. Kinda, anyways. The drugs they gave him are still wearing off, so he's still like, half asleep. If you want to see him, you should go now, 'cause you're going to go back to your house, get some clothes for the others and then you're going up to Ash's house." Venus said as she paced around the room.

"Alright." Mia said softly as she stood up, ready to leave the room when a doctor arrived.

"Family of an Ashlynn Toretto?" The graying doctor asked.

"Yes?" They chorused together.

"I'm pleased to inform you that she's pulled through. She's in recovery, but she's in a coma." The doctor said, causing Venus to fall into a chair in despair. "She should be just fine, but when she get shot, the lower of the two bullets ruptured her appendix, all the toxins that were stored there were moving rapidly through her blood stream and she could have died. I'm afraid that's why it has taken so long. Though, now, she's just got to wake up."

"What about the other bullet?" Jesse asked.

"The other one nearly punctured her lung, but it was lodged in one of her ribs, it's a miracle it didn't break the rib and cause the rib to puncture the lung." The doctor informed them.

"When can we see her?" Mia asked.

"You can visit her now if you'd like, one at a time."

"Do you have any news on Johnny Tran?" Venus asked softly.

"Tran?" The doctor looked thoughtful for a moment. "I do believe that he's the one with the single gunshot wound and the head trauma. I hear that his wound is patched up quite nicely and that he's in a medically induced coma to help heal the swelling in his brain. Nasty bump to the head he got."

"Can I see him?" She asked softly.

"I do believe that his room is right next to Miss Toretto's." The doctor said with a kind smile. "Just down the hall. Their name's should be outside the doors."

"Thanks." Jesse mumbled before the doctor walked away.

"So, who's gonna see her first?" Silver asked.

"You and Mia should see her first. While Mia goes to see Vince, you go see Ash, and then she'll see Ash and then we'll go from there, 'cause you guys have to go." Venus said, not looking at any of them.

Silver and Mia left, each going to their respective destinations. Venus sighed softly and stood up.

"Luc, stay here with Jesse until I get back, alright?" She said softly.

"Alright Auntie V." He said softly.

Venus smile softly, ruffling his hair as she walked passed him. She made her way after Silver, but instead of waiting outside Ash's room, she hesitated outside the room that Johnny lay in. She clenched her hands into fists as she fought off memories of her brother and all of the doubts that had plagued her thoughts. She forced herself to enter the room and froze just inside the door.

Johnny lay on the bed, hooked up to the multiple machines, looking for all the world as if he were just sleeping. Forcing herself to walk to the bedside, Venus found tears welling up in her eyes. Her hands shook as she raised one to brush her fingers across Johnny's relaxed face. It's amazing the amount of damage that can happen in the blink of an eye. She didn't know how long she stood there, staring at his still form before she leaned down and kissed his cheek.

"Come back to me, don't make me go through this pain again." She whispered before leaving the room.

Mia was exiting Ashlynn's room the same time that Venus stepped out of Johnny's room.

"Are you going to be alright?" Mia asked as they walked back to the waiting room.

"Don't know." Venus said shortly as the entered the waiting room. Jesee was staring down at Ashlynn's phone, Luciano was sitting curled up against Jesse's side and Silver was looking at the floor. "It's time for you and Silver to go though. We'll be up as soon as possible."

Silver nodded as she got up. She kissed Luciano's forehead and hugged Venus before she and Mia left. Venus looked at Jesse and then Luciano.

"Go see her, Jesse." Venus said as she walked over to the two; up close, she could see how jittery Jesse actually was. "I'll take Luc to see Vince and then we'll switch."

Jesse nodded as Venus picked Luciano up. He stood from the chair he was in and disappeared to Ashlynn's room. Venus sighed softly as she walked down the hall to Vince's room again.

"What are you doing back here?" Vince asked gruffly.

"I brought Luciano to see you while Jesse visits Ash." She said as she sat Luciano down on the edge of Vince's bed before sitting in the chair.

"Hey kiddo." Vince said, having finally noticed Luciano through his drug induced haze. "How are you holding up?"

Venus didn't really listen to Luciano's response, only vaguely noting that the boy was speaking rapidly in Italian. A sure sign that he was upset and scared. Venus sat unaware of the minutes passing, barely aware of the conversation going on between the two until Jesse entered the room, eyes bloodshot. Venus looked up as Jesse stood next to her before she stood and gathered Luciano into her arms again.

"Let's go see your Mamma, Luc." She said softly as she exited Vince's room and traveled to Ashlynn's. She entered slowly, trying to delay the inevitable.

She saw Luciano's eye's go wide as he saw his mother lying still with tubes and machines all around her. "Is Mamma going to be alright?"

"I sure as hell hope so, kiddo." Venus said as she sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Talk to her. They say that people in comas can hear you."

Luciano looked unsure, but started talking anyway and Venus once again let herself space out as she relived her horrendous memories of the millionth time that day alone, hoping that, this time, things would be different.


	16. Chapter 16

So, it's been a little bit since I've updated, and this probably isn't the best I could do, but this is a filler chapter because a reviewer said they wanted to know more about Silver. This was the perfect opportunity to do that.

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: Look through previous chapters. Nothing has changed.**

Fast and The Furious 16

She didn't like this, she didn't like this at all. One of her best friends was in the hospital, in a coma, from a gunshot wound and there was nothing she could do about it. And she wasn't even there to comfort her other friend, whom she knew was hurting more than she was going to let anyone see. That's what Venus did; she always put up a front, a façade, let people only see what she wants them too. And if for some reason she can't keep up that façade, she does something productive or destructive. She wished she could be there to help her, but no, she had to take Mia to safety, to the rest of Ashlynn's weird family.

Silver sat in her car, Mia insisted that she wouldn't be long and that Silver just stay in the car, so that's what she did. She stayed in the car, watching Mia disappear into the house as she sat there contemplating everything that was happening. She remembered all too clearly the last time that this had happened. She remembered what had happened the time before that too, and this time hurt just as much as the last two times. Silver remembered Venus and Xander going through the pain of losing their parents and she remembered Venus going through even more pain when she lost Xander. She remembered the nights that she would be in Ashlynn's room with Venus and Ashlynn, the nights where Venus let herself breakdown and she and Ash would breakdown with her. Xander wasn't just Venus' big brother, he was a big brother to all three of them and none of them had ever properly grieved. Except on those few nights.

Silver didn't know how long she had been sitting there before she noticed the tears falling from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and glanced up at the house to see Mia coming down the porch steps with a few duffle bags. Silver popped the truck so that Mia could put the bags there instead of fighting to get them into the backseat. Mia disappeared inside again before reappearing minutes later with a few plates of food and a mini cooler with what Silver assumed were drinks for them.

"I don't know how long the drive is, so I figured if I brought some of the food I made we wouldn't have to make a pit stop for that." Mia said softly as she slid into the car.

Silver just nodded as she waited for Mia to buckle her seat belt before taking off. She followed Mia's directions to the freeway, but other than that, the only sound was the mixed cd that played softly from the speakers. The artists ranged from Avenged Sevenfold, Evanescence, and Linkin' Park to Good Charlotte, Lifehouse, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Maroon 5. They'd been driving for a little over an hour when Mia spoke.

"Do you think she's going to make it?"

Silver glanced over at Mia. "I don't know. She's strong willed and stubborn, I hope she does, but I don't know."

"How long have you known my cousin?" Queried Mia softly.

Silver sighed, she knew she'd have to talk about it eventually, and she was surprised the Mia had waited this long to ask. "I've know of her since about the time her family left Los Angeles. Everyone knows about the new kid, wants to know everything about the person and all that, you know? But it's even worse when you're a part of the local 'social elite'. Everyone digs for all of your dirty little secrets, hoping they can use something against you as blackmail if they ever need to." Silver paused. "Venus and I have been friends for a very long time. Venus was always there for me. And during our sixth grade and middle school years is about the time that Venus and I integrated ourselves into Ashlynn's life. Soon we became inseparable. It was Ash, Venus, and me, and sometimes Xander."

"What about your family? Who's Xander?" Mia asked, confused.

"My family, not very interesting," Silver murmured. "My dad's a drunk, I don't know where he is now. My mom and sisters are in Florida, enjoying life, hoping that I'll join them soon. Maybe I will, but not until I know that Ashlynn is alright. This isn't really my story to tell, but it might put this all into perspective for you." She paused. "This isn't the first time we've had someone important to us in the hospital. This isn't even the first time that Ashlynn has been in the hospital, but of course, it was never this serious. Xander, he was Venus' brother, he was a brother to us all, really. We lost him to a racing accident a few years ago; he was in a coma for months before he let go. It was very hard for all of us, but especially so for Venus."

"Why?"

"Because they had lost their parents about two years before in a car accident with a big rig." Silver explained. "And because she was in the car with him when the accident occurred. I know that she feels guilty that she survived and he didn't, even if she doesn't want to admit to it. I've been distancing myself lately, from Venus and Ashlynn, because I've been applying to college's across the country and if I get accepted I don't want to hurt them too much when I leave. So, Ashlynn is all Venus has left now, Ashlynn and Luciano. If Venus loses Ashlynn, she'll probably go insane; though, the three of us probably are already." She paused again, changing lanes and making the necessary crossovers. "We're very private people, Venus and I are, the only person we normally open up to is Ashlynn. And that's because for a long time the four of use were all we had. We had our parents, but it just wasn't like we belonged. I know V's parents loved her and X, but sometimes they got so busy with work, they weren't always home; conferences and shit. I know my mom loves me and my sisters, I know that my sisters love me, but still it felt like I was an outsider. And Ash, her dad, he loved her so much, if only her mother wasn't such a bitch, she probably wouldn't have felt so out of place. And because we all felt out of place, we clung to each other and we formed our own little family."

"So why are you helping us then?" Mia asked curiously, turning slightly in her seat to look at Silver.

"Because Ashlynn is family." Silver said simply.

"But why us? We don't mean anything to you."

"No, you don't mean anything to Venus or me, but you mean everything to Ash." Silver said softly. "When Ashlynn first showed up, we, V and I, observed her. For two years we observed her before we tried to integrate ourselves into her life. And everyone around us was so shocked."

"Why?"

"Venus and I, the only person we hung out with other than each other was Xander. We were approached by people who wanted to 'be our friends', but we never let them, so for us to have approached someone was like the shock of a lifetime for everyone."

"Why did you approach her?"

"Since she arrived, Venus and I noticed that she wasn't happy, even at the age of nine though, she didn't let people know," Silver paused and took the bottle of water than Mia offered her. "Venus and I could tell though, that she was sad and alone. Though, she was alone because of her own choice. Anytime anyone would sit next to her and try and talk to her or anything, she'd get up and leave. Like she wanted to be alone, but we knew different. She was hurting and sad. So, when V and I approached her, we just sat there, didn't talk, didn't try to make her talk, but just sat together in silence." She paused to drink some of the water. "It took us weeks to get her to make a noise outside of class. Everyone though she might be mute, she never raised her hand to answer questions, when directly asked a question, she'd get up and write the answer on the board, and she'd never talk just to talk. So when we started getting monosyllable words out of her, we were very happy. Though, no one knew that. Anyway, eventually, we got sentences out of her and in eighth grade she finally told us her story. Why she was hurting."

Mia didn't say anything as watched Silver.

"She told us that she had had these amazing friends and an awesome family back in LA, she hadn't wanted to leave them because they were so important to her. Her mother was either always a bitch or ignored her. Her father, he was a good guy, but in order to keep her mother from bitching, he appeased her. She was hurting because she'd been ripped away from all she knew, with little warning and no choice in the matter. She said she'd have given a lot to be back in Los Angeles, but doubted she'd ever be able to go back with her mother being the way she was." Silver looked over at Mia, who was still staring at her. "You guys are very important to her, if anything happened to any of you, she'd be very sad. I don't want Ashlynn to be sad anymore."

"But won't your leaving cause her to be sad?" Mia asked softly.

"Only for a little while." Silver replied sadly. "I will visit, but it won't hurt her forever like it would if something happened to you guys."

"Even Leon and Jesse? She's hardly known them for a few months."

"Even them. Because they are a part of your family. And she loves Jesse, truly loves him. I can see her spending the rest of her life with that boy. And Ashlynn, out of any of us, has the most reason to never date another guy again, stupid Marcos." Silver muttered, rambling to herself under her breath for a few minutes. "Anyways, my leaving will hurt a little bit, but I have to make sure my mom and sisters are alright."

"Why are they in Florida anyway?"

"Hiding from my dad. We don't know where he is. We don't even know if he's alive anymore, but it doesn't matter, so long as they're safe."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"Because at the time, Ash and V needed me more."

"What do you mean?"

"Ash was still pregnant and V and X were in the accident when my mother and sisters left. I lived with Ash after they left, her mother wasn't happy, 'cause V and X had been living with them after their parents died until X turned 18. And then Venus and I were there after the accident, which caused Ash's mother a great amount of annoyance 'cause she didn't like us. Thought we were a bad influence on Ash." Silver said, pausing to take a sip of water. "And then Luc was born and Ash's mother wanted her to give him up for adoption. I wish you could have seen the look she gave her mother, if looks could kill, her mother would have been dead and buried six few under ten times over. After Luc was born, that was the happiest we'd ever seen her; she had something that was a part of her, was her family, and she wasn't going to let anything happen to him. After everything settled down, I was going to leave after we graduated high school and live in Florida, well, that was two years ago, and none of us were really over X being gone and we clung to each other even more. Our quartet was now a trio, and I'm going to make that trio a duo."

"So you're just going to leave? Just like that?"

"No, I'm going to stay to make sure that Ashlynn is alright. And soon, I'll be gone, but not forever. I'll visit, like I said before, but I won't be living with them anymore. I think Ashlynn and Venus need each other more than they need me, and that's alright. They saved me from my dad and that's what I needed, someone to help me, and I got two."

The rest of the drive was silent as Mia thought about everything that Silver had told her. They munched on the food Mia had brought and soon enough, they arrived at Ashlynn's house.

"Wow," Mia said in awe. "You guys live here?"

"Yup, this was Ashlynn's parent's house, now it's her house." Silver said as she opened the garage and parked her car. Cutting the engine, Silver got out and popped the trunk, grabbing her bag and one of the ones that Mia brought before leading the way into the house. The atmosphere was tense as they moved in through the kitchen and towards the living room where the television was on. "I like this movie." Silver said softly, causing the three people lounging in the living room to jump as she watched the end scene of _X-Men_ from where she stood behind the couch.

"How long have you been here?" Leon asked.

"Not long. We just walked in." Silver replied, looking away from the television to focus on Leon.

"Where's Mia?" Dom asked.

"I'm here." Mia piped in from behind Silver. "I've got clothes for you guys."

"Did Venus show you rooms to stay in?" Silver asked.

"No, she showed us Ashlynn's bathroom and that was about it." Dom informed her.

"If you're done here, I'll show you to your rooms." Silver said softly. The television was turned off and Silver led the group passed her room where she dropped her bag off before continuing down the hallway. "This is Ashlynn's room," She said pointing to one door. "This room and the one next to it are empty." She continued pointing to two doors on the opposite wall. And there's a third door around the corner on the left that's not being used." She said, walking to the end of the hall and pointing to it. "You can choose who sleeps where. There are bathrooms adjoined to each room. It's getting late and I have to can Venus. If you need anything I should be in my room, if I don't answer when you knock, look in the kitchen." She said as she walked back down the hall towards her room.

"Thank you." Mia called after her, receiving a wave for her effort.

Once in her room, Silver slumped against the door before pulling her phone out of her pocket and dialing Venus' number.

"Hello?" Came Venus' tired voice.

"You should sleep." Silver said softly.

"I'll sleep when I know they're going to be ok."

"You can't help them if you don't get sleep."

"I know that, but I just can't sleep. I keep seeing what happened before. Awake or asleep, my memories are bothering me."

"She'll pull through."

"I really hope so."

"How are you holding up otherwise?"

"I'm pissed, the nurses wouldn't let us stay. So we're back at the house. And I wanna destroy something."

"Nothing valuable."

"Yeah, well, I don't know what's valuable and what's not here."

"Did you get Ashlynn's car?"

"Yeah, Jesse and I got Ashlynn's car from that guy, what's-his-name."

"Hector."

"Yeah, him. How are the others?"

"They're alright, I think. I showed them the spare rooms, so I think they're going to crash. They've all been through a lot today."

"We all have. Ugh, I don't know if anyone called Johnny's family and I don't have their number, so I'm gonna have to go over there and see if they know."

"You really like him, don't you."

"Yeah, there's something about him that I like. He's not like the guys at home."

"I would hope not. How's Luciano?"

"He's sleeping. He grabbed one of Ash's jackets and curled up next to Jesse. He's too young to have to go through this S."

"I know V, but we just have to believe that she'll wake up."

"I know."

"What are we going to do? We can't continue to drive back and forth and we've got work."

"I know. I'm going to see what I can do about getting them all transferred up there."

"You think they'll go for it?"

"I don't know, but I do know that I can't just leave and hope that she'll wake up."

"Yeah. It's late, you should get some sleep before you go see Johnny's family."

"Probably."

"Night V."

"Night S."

Sighing softly as she hung up, Silver grabbed her duffle bag and put it by her hamper before grabbing clean pajamas from her drawer and quickly changed before nearly collapsing in bed.

Meanwhile, Venus sat staring at her phone for a few minutes before leaving the room Jesse had shown her to and going down to the kitchen. She searched the cabinets before finding a half full bottle of tequila and searched for a glass before sitting down at the table and pouring herself some of the liquor. Over the two hours she sat in the kitchen, Venus found herself drinking a quarter of what was in the bottle before she made her way back upstairs and into the room she was using. She laid in bed for a while, she wasn't sure how much time passed before she actually fell asleep, but when she did, she was grateful that she wasn't plagued by memories of her past.


	17. Chapter 17

So, I was trying to upload this document for hours, but ended up having to use a 'round-about way to post it. But here it is. And I hope you enjoy it. And if the format is a little weird, my bad, the way I got the chapter posted was a little, uh, screwy.

**Disclaimer: Look through previous chapters. Nothing has changed.**

Fast and The Furious 17

Venus grumbled to herself as she stood outside Johnny's house, she really just wanted to walk back to her car and go sit in the hospital next to either Johnny or Ashlynn, but she couldn't. She needed to tell his family what was going on. Sighing to herself, she smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles on her black tank top before knocking on the door that had finally been fixed. She stood there, nervously playing with one of the small holes on her jeans, waiting for the door to open.

"Did you guys forget something?" Johnny's sister asked after she had opened to door to see Venus.

"Uhm, no." Venus replied softly. "There's… there's been an accident."

"An accident?"

"Yeah. Can I come in and explain. I'd like to only have to do this once."

Venus was led into the living room, after having removed her shoes, and she sat on one of the couches, curling up with her knees to her chest as she waited for Johnny's sister to gather the rest of the family. When said family members entered the living room at intervals over the next fifteen minutes, none of them seem surprised to see her, so she assumed they had been told she was there.

"That's everyone," Johnny's sister said as she walked back into the room.

Venus nodded and took a minute to try an organize her thoughts again before taking a deep breath and slowly speaking. "~I don't know how much you know of what was going on after Race Wars yesterday, but,~" She paused to take a shuddering breath. "~But Ashlynn and Johnny are in the hospital. I don't know if the hospital contacted you or not, but I know Ashlynn would come tell you either way if she were able to.~"

She was bombarded by questions from every direction and waited for them all to settle down before she continued. "~The day before yesterday, Johnny raced against Ashlynn's boyfriend, Jesse. Johnny won and Jesse freaked out and took off. Then later that night, or early yesterday morning, Dom and the team, excluding Jesse, took of to hijack a truck and it went bad. Vince is in the hospital too, with deep lacerations to his arm and a gunshot wound on his left side. Letty's car flipped a few times, but she's alright. Brian, who was a new member of the team and therefore not apart of the hijackings, is really a cop and he made sure that Vince would be alright and then Dom, Mia, Letty, and Leon took off. I followed them like Ashlynn made me promise to, and then she went with Brian.~" Venus paused again, taking a few deep breaths before she continued. "~So, we all got back to the house and after Ashlynn and Brian show up, Jesse shows up, Dom and Jesse exchanged words and Ashlynn was happy and then we heard motorcycle engines.~"

Venus had to stop again, forcing herself to remain composed, she wasn't going to fall apart in front of anyone, let alone people she doesn't even know. As soon as she could, she continued. "~It was Johnny and Lance. Lance had a gun and Johnny was trying to stop him, but he couldn't. Ashlynn saved Jesse, by knocking him to the ground when Lance opened fire, only to get two bullets in the back.~" Venus continued talking as if she hadn't noticed the gasps of surprise from some of the other occupants of the room. "~Brian took off after them, then Dom, and Ashlynn made me keep my stupid promise and I took off after Dom. I made sure Dom was safe before coming back to LA to find that Ashlynn was still in surgery and Johnny was in recovery. Johnny had been shot in his side by Brian and he hit his head when he lost control of his bike and went down. He's been patched up and put into a medically induced coma to help heal the swelling in his brain.~"

"~What about Ashlynn?~" One of the others asked.

"~Ashlynn…~" Venus muttered softly. "~She is in a coma, not medically induced. The lower of the two bullets ruptured her appendix, resulting in toxins spreading through her blood stream. The doctor says that's why she was in surgery so long. And he said that it's just a matter of time before she wakes up. I'm going to see about getting her transferred to the hospital back home, so, if you want to see her, you should do it today or tomorrow, because if they'll transfer her, I'm moving her as soon as possible.~"

With that said, Venus left. She couldn't stay any longer, she needed to get to the hospital and reassure herself that nothing bad happened. And so she did. She spent the rest of the day, until visiting hours were over, at the hospital with Jesse and Luciano. During the time she wasn't sitting with Ashlynn or Johnny, Venus was looking for the doctor that had told them what was going on, but she couldn't find him. As the three were leaving though, it appeared he had just started his shift for the night and Venus told Jesse to take Luciano outside, she'd be out soon, before taking off to catch up to the doctor.

"Excuse me!" She called, trying to be polite, as she reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.

Slightly startled, the man turned around. "Oh, yes? May I help you?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you're the doctor looking over Ashlynn Toretto?"

"Indeed I am, my dear. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted your opinion on whether or not she's stable enough to be transferred."

"Transferred?"

"Yes. We don't live in town and she has family who can't make the commute down to visit her as often as they'd like."

"Well, at this point, I can't say if a transfer would be advisable." He told her. "She might be stable at the moment, but anything could happen right now. If we were to clear her for transfer, we'd have to be absolutely sure that nothing could cause her healing process to relapse. However, maybe if she continues on the stability she has currently, we can see in a few days if her conditions improves and decide upon a final decision for a transfer."

Venus nodded before changing the subject. "And do you know who Vincent Castello's doctor is? We're wondering when he can be discharged."

"I can't say that I do, but I can find out and consult with them for you. He's the young man with the nerve damage, correct?"

"Yeah. That would be him."

"Hm, as I thought. He's going to need a physical therapist, there's no doubt about that."

"I know one that I was going to call and talk to about Vince, see if he'd take Vince as a patient."

"You know a physical therapist? Why ever for?"

Venus did her best not to squirm uncomfortably. "Going through a windshield and surviving doesn't come without its price."

"Ah, yes, I suppose that would do it. Well, at any rate, I'm sure that you're therapist will gladly take on another patient."

"Maybe. I should be going, but, uhm, thank you."

"Of course. I'm sure we'll run into each other again, my dear. I do hope you have a nice night."

"You too." She mumbled before walking away, making her way outside where she saw Jesse and Luciano sitting on a bench waiting for her.

"What's up?" Jesse asked worriedly as he watched Venus approach them.

"Nothing. I was just talking to Ash's doctor about transferring her so that we can go back home. Silver and I have work and we can't let it go too long otherwise we'll lose clientele and shit. And I asked if he knew Vince's doctor to see about getting him discharged." Venus said as she crossed her arms. "And I have to call my physical therapist to see if he'll take Vince on as a patient. So that he can leave with us."

Jesse nodded. "Shall we get back to the house? I'm pretty sure Luc is hungry."

Both of them looked down at the boy sitting next to Jesse. He was still wearing Ashlynn's jacket even though it totally swamped him. And he hadn't really spoken since that day before in the hospital where Venus told him to talk to Ashlynn. He seemed to have fallen into a depression, which was a very bad thing. But Venus didn't know what to do; anything she or Jesse did to try and get him to talk just failed.

"Yeah," She mumbled softly. "Let's go. I'm pretty sure there's still some of the food Mia made."

With that said, they walked to their cars, Jesse holding Luciano so he wouldn't trip on the hem of the jacket. The drive home was silent in both cars, not even music was played, and when they got to the house the silence was only broken by the sounds of dishes and brief 'yes' or 'no' questions.

After they had eaten, Jesse took Luc upstairs to take a bath and Venus sat in the kitchen, cell phone in hand, staring at the bottle of tequila that sat on the counter. Just as she was about to dial the number for her physical therapist, an incoming call came through from a number she didn't recognize.

"Hello?" She answered warily, not sure who it was.

"Hey, it's Dom." Came his gruff voice; he sounded tense.

"Something wrong up there?"

"Someone's here saying they're you physical therapist. Your tiny friend can't be found, so I called you."

"Well that's convenient." She muttered. "He say his name was Scott Westfield?"

"Yeah." His answered seemed less tense.

"Is he standing right there?"

"Yeah."

"Give him the phone."

There was a shuffling sound before she heard the familiar voice of her physical therapist. "Would you like to tell me why I nearly got my head decapitated from the rest of my body?"

"They're really jumpy people?" Venus queried with mock innocence, a smirk on her face.

"Stop smirking. Why weren't you at your appointment?"

"Something came up."

"What something?"

"The reason those people are there. Ashlynn ended up in the hospital and a lot of shit went down. I was actually about to call you."

"About what? Is she alright?"

"Well, some of the shit that went down resulted in a friend of Ash's getting hurt. Pretty extensive nerve damage in his right arm. If he's cleared for discharge, I'm sending him up there  
and he needs a physical therapist. Was hoping you'd do it. Make it a hell of a lot easier on us." Venus hesitated and sighed. "Ash is in a coma. The doctor she had here says it's only a matter of time before she wakes up, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows how badly I handle having people I know in comas."

"Everything will be fine. And I'll take that guy as a patient, just make sure I get the necessary paperwork."

"Alright, give the phone back to baldy and I'll stop by when I get home."

"You better. That's two sessions you've not shown up for."

"Bye." She deadpanned.

"Fine, be a bitch about it. Bye."

There was shuffling again. "So what's going on?" Came Dom's voice.

"I'm trying to get Vince discharged and Ashlynn transferred."

"Are they gonna do that?"

"Well, Ash's doctor said we should see if her condition improves over the next few days, 'cause if we were to transfer her now, she could possibly relapse and I'm not going to chance that. And the doctor also said that he was going to consult with Vince's doctor to see about getting him discharged, the only this he'd have to really worry about it the gunshot wound. He won't be able to start physical therapy until the stitches are taken out of his arm, so he'll just have to deal with that as it is for now." Venus sighed. "Hopefully we'll be up there by the end of the week."

"How are Jesse and Luciano?"

"Jesse is holding up as best as he can and Luc… He stopped talking, hasn't said a word since yesterday, he's depressed, walking around in one of Ashlynn's jackets. He's taking a bath right now and Jesse's watching him." Just as she said that, she heard footsteps on the stairs. "Wait, here they come." She said as she watched Jesse and Luciano walk into the kitchen.

"Let me talk to the kid."

"I doubt it'll do any good, but alright." She said before pulling the phone away from her ear. "Luc, someone wants to talk to you." She said, holding the phone out for Luciano to take.

Luciano looked at the phone before taking it from Venus. He said a soft noise to let Dom know he had the phone, but didn't say anything. Venus watched Luciano as he shuffled into the living room as curled up on the couch, making little noises here and there in response to something Dom said.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Venus informed Jesse before disappearing upstairs. She grabbed her bag from the room before crossing into the bathroom and just before she closed the door, she could hear Luciano talking, brokenly, in Italian to Dom. "Well, I'll be damned." She muttered to herself before closing and locking the door behind her.

The next few days passed by in a similar fashion; the trio would wake up, eat breakfast, get ready, go to the hospital and be there all day; sometimes running into a member or two of the Tran family. However, they were unable to find Ashlynn's doctor, but they were assured by the nurses attending to her in the doctor's absence that Ashlynn was improving.

Jesse had been visiting with Vince when Vince's doctor arrived and, under strict orders not to do any heavy lifting, no strenuous activities, and to relax a lot, gave the go ahead for Vince to be discharged. While said doctor went to get the paperwork, Jesse told Vince what was going on.

"She's trying to get Baby Girl transferred?" Vince asked dubiously.

"Yeah. The doc says right now it isn't advisable, but if she's improved enough these last few days, it's possible for Ash to be transferred." Jesse said softly, staring out the window. "Luciano only talks to Dom. He calls Venus' phone and they'll talk in Italian for a while before Luc goes to sleep."

"Poor kid." Vince mumbled.

"Yeah. And, uh, Venus talked to her physical therapist- I didn't even know she had one- and he said that he'd take you on as a patient. So, we don't have to try and find one." Jesse said, absentmindedly twisting the ring that sat on his left index finger.

"Where'd you get that?" Vince asked, watching Jesse.

"Huh?"

"The ring."

"It's Ash's. They gave us her stuff and, uh, Luciano has the necklace and he wanted me to wear the ring." Jesse mumbled.

"I remember when we got her those." Vince said softly. "It was her birthday, she just turned seven, and me, Dom, and Mia talked to Dom's dad into taking us to a jewelry store for her. We had saved up our allowances for a while and wanted to get her something special. We searched for hours, three different stores before we finally found those. It was one of those things that just jumps out at you and screams the person's name. We all agreed that we'd get them and Dom's dad paid the difference… I remember the look on her face as she opened the box; she was so happy that she started crying. Her mother actually tried to take it away from her, saying that it was too expensive for her to have at the age of seven, that she could have it when she was older. Ash got so pissed that she bit her mother's hand when she tried to take it. She always wore that necklace, the ring wouldn't fit on any of her fingers at the time, so it hung next to the cross. When she'd finished opening her presents, she'd come over and tackled Mia, tried to tackle me, and then when she got to Dom, she hugged him tight as she tried not to cry. She was rambling in Italian about how it was the most personal gift she'd ever got and she was so happy it came from us and how much so loved it and how she was never going to take it off. Letty was so jealous. That was the first time those two met, it was pretty funny."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah. Letty didn't know they were cousins, so she didn't realize that's why they were so close. I always wondered why she was invited to the party, but it might have been Baby Girl's mother's idea, hoping that having another girl around might make Ash act more like a girl than a tomboy, Anyways, so, Letty was getting a drink and Ashlynn followed her, telling us that she'd be right back, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who overheard this conversation, but I could be wrong. I remember Ashlynn being very blunt as she talked to Letty, 'Hi, I'm Ashlynn, I know you don't like me because you think I like Dom.' Letty just looked at her, I'm sure that scowl was in place, but Ashlynn just continued talking. 'It's alright though, because I don't like Dominic that way. That would be incestuous. And I don't like incest.' I remember trying so hard not to laugh at the innocent smile on Baby Girl's face as Letty tilted her head and asked her what she was talking about. 'My last name is Toretto, Dom's my cousin, though he acts more like a big brother.' Letty was so dumbfounded that this seven year old was having this conversation with her, 'cause, we were like eleven, twelve, and Letty probably thought that Ashlynn was just another stupid little girl, but Ash proved her wrong." Vince smiled. "That was a good day. After that, Ashlynn and Letty became pretty good friends, Letty was over more often, we would all work on cars together, learn from Dom's dad, sometimes Ash's dad would come over and help. But then two years later, after Ashlynn turned nine, her mother finally got her way and they moved, and you know the story after that."

"So, where did Dom get his cross?" Jesse asked, relaxing into the chair.

"Ashlynn helped Letty pick that out, right before she moved. They were going to give it to Dom together, for his birthday or something, but then the moving happened. Letty held onto it until we were sixteen or seventeen before she finally gave it to him. There was a little note attached to it, in Baby Girl's handwriting. It looked like she spent a lot of time on it to make it look nice, but it was such a simple note." Vince explained.

"What did it say?"

"'To the best Big Brother ever. Letty and I picked this out for you. You better date her when we get older, 'cause she's awesome and I said so. Love Your Baby Girl, Ashlynn.'" Vince said with a short laugh. "It was soon after that, that they started dating. They'd been dancing around each other for a while before, but Ashlynn's note seemed to be what kicked them into gear. Little while after that, you and Leon showed up and you know the story from there."

"Yeah," Jesse said, a soft smile on his face. "She was really that blunt to Letty?"

"Oh yeah. Baby Girl didn't have a filter for her mouth. She just said what she was thinking. Got her in a lot of trouble at school and with her mother. Her dad thought it was pretty funny, but never let her mother know that."

It was then that the doctor came back into the room with a wheelchair and the paperwork. The IV was soon removed from Vince's hand, monitors disconnected, and the paperwork signed. The doctor told him that he was going to have to wear a sling so that it limited the movement of his arm, and therefore damage that could be done until the stitches were to be able to be removed. Vince was carefully maneuvered into the wheelchair with instructions not to get out of it until outside the hospital.

"I wanna see Ash." Vince told Jesse after the doctor had left.

Jesse just nodded and pushed the wheelchair out of the room and made his way down the hall, around the corner and down that hall, where they saw Venus and Luciano standing outside Ashlynn's room.

"What's going on?" Vince asked.

"Nothing, her doctor is just going a sort of check up on her to see if she's improved enough to transfer." Venus replied, not looking at Vince.

"And if she is?"

"Then I'm going to have her transferred so that everyone can see her without the threat of the police." Venus muttered. "And we're going to get you out of here."

They waited in silence for fifteen minutes before the doctor exited the room. Before he could say anything, Luciano surprised them by speaking.

"Is my Mamma ok?" He asked.

"She's quite alright, my dear boy." The doctor replied with a smile. "In fact, I do believe that she has improved enough to make the trip home just fine."

Luciano gave the doctor a small smile in return, but didn't say anything more.

"She's improved and stable enough?" Vince asked.

"Yes, she's quite fine, she has made quite the improvement. Most of the toxins seem to be out of her bloodstream now and it's all up to her now, I would say. So, I shall go make the arrangements for her transfer and let you all see her again before it's time to leave." The doctor said before nodding to them and walking down the hall.

"C'mon Jess, I wanna see her." Vince said, glancing back at the scrawny man. Jesse nodded as he pushed Vince through the open doorway. "She's been like this since Saturday?"

"Yeah." The two were joined by Luciano a few minutes later as Venus went to visit Johnny.

Sighing softly, Venus watched Luciano walk into Ashlynn's room before turning and entering Johnny's room. This would probably be the last time she'd see him for a while.  
"You know, I hate goodbye's." She said softly as she sat down in the chair next to his bed. "They suck. And they seem so fucking final. I hate that they're so final. So, I'm not going to say goodbye." She looked up at his face and gently caressed his cheek. "You know, I've barely known you three days and I can't and don't want to imagine what my life would have been like if I never met you. So, you can't leave me, okay?" She looked down at her jacket covered arm where she knew the bracelet her brother had had made for her sat. She always wore it, never took it off if she could help it. It always ended up pushed up to her elbow because it was so big on her wrist that in nearly fell off otherwise. Before she even thought about it, she had the bracelet off and sitting in her hands. She stared at the tiny inscription on the front, 'For my Baby Sister, Eva Christiana Giovanna Russo', and then flipped it over to read the other inscription, 'Love you Big Brother, Xander Christiano D'Angelo Russo'. Smiling sadly, Venus looked up at Johnny again. "My brother gave me this for my fifteenth birthday. I've never taken it off, so you'd best consider yourself lucky. I expect to get this back after you wake up." And with that said, she gently clasped it around his wrist where it rested with a little bit of slack. "We're transferring Ashlynn back home. And when you wake up, you can come visit her, I'm sure she'd like that."

There was a knock on the door and she turned to see Jesse stick his head in. "They're moving her now. Just thought you'd like to know."

"I'll be out in a minute." She said with a nod and watched as he disappeared before turning her attention back to Johnny. "Like I said before, I'm not going to say goodbye, 'cause this is just see you later, you know?" She leaned down and kissed his cheek softly before whispering, "I'll see you later." And then she was gone. Leaving the room quickly before she could break down. Breaking down had to wait until she was home, where she could break down properly. Or destructively. Either way. She stood over by Jesse, Luc, and Vince and watched as they wheeled Ashlynn's bed out of the room and down the hall.

"Are we going home now, Auntie Venus?" Luciano asked softly as he reached up and held her hand.

"Yeah Little Man, we're going home." Venus replied as she watched Ashlynn and the hospital personnel disappear around the corner.

"By the time you get home, I'm afraid you won't be able to visit her, they're going to be settling her into a room and then monitoring her to make sure that nothing has happened, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow if you want to visit her." The doctor said as he popped up. "And I do believe that Mister Castello's file has been faxed over to a Mister Scott Westfield, so when the time comes, he'll be prepared to work with Mister Castello."

"Thank you." Venus said softly. "If that's everything, we should be going."

"Why, yes, of course, don't let me keep you here any longer." He said with a smile. "Everything shall be alright in the end." And with that, he was gone.

The four of them didn't say anything as they made their way out of the hospital. Just as they exited the doors, they almost literally ran into a few of Johnny's family members.

"~Oh hello!~" Johnny's mother greeted them.

"~Hello.~" Venus said softly.

"~Is everything alright?~"

"~Just fine. We're leaving town now. Ashlynn's getting transferred, so there's not much reason for us to stay here.~"

"~Well, that is a good thing.~"

"~Yeah. Uhm, I let something, with Johnny. When he wakes up, tell him that I expect to get it back, it's really important. And have him call me?~"

"~Of course. We'll let you get on your way.~"

"~Thank you. And thank you for your hospitality when we were staying with you.~" Venus said, bowing shallowly before walking towards the cars.

"What was that?" Vince asked.

"I was having a conversation with my boyfriend's mother, is there a problem with that?" Venus snapped as they reached the cars. "Ugh, shit."

"What?" Jesse asked as he helped Vince into the passenger seat of Ashlynn's car.

"Well, Ashlynn was trying to get the police department to find who hurt Luc. And if we just leave, they'll think that it doesn't matter, so, I'm going to have to go there and make it known that we're not going to drop the threat of suing them." Venus explained as she got Luciano in the backseat of her car.

"So, what do we do?" Jesse asked as Venus rummaged through Ashlynn's purse, grabbing the copy of Luciano's medical file, before going back to her car.

"Well, you guys go back to the house. Get him some real food and when I'm done at the police station, Luc and I will come back to the house and then we'll take off." Venus said as she opened her door. "Shouldn't take too long."

"Alright."

So, with that said, they took off to their destinations, Vince and Jesse back to the house and Venus and Luciano to the police station.

"How may I help you?" The secretary asked as she looked up at Venus, who was holding Luciano's hand.

"Yeah, I need to talk to a Sergeant Tanner." Venus replied.

"What for?" The blonde woman asked.

"For possibly suing the police squad." Venus deadpanned.

The woman's eyes widened before she picked up the phone and called Sergeant Tanner's office. "Sir, there's a Miss-"

"Russo."

"A Miss Russo here to see you…Yes sir." The woman hung up and looked back up at Venus. "He'll be out momentarily."

Venus sat down in one of the chairs and pulled Luciano into her lap as she set her bag on the floor.

"What are you doing here?" Came Marcos' snobbish voice.

"None of your business. Go away." Venus deadpanned.

"You've got my son with you, it's my business."

"Ashlynn told you he's not yours. And that's your fault, so it's not your business. What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your business. Where's Ashlynn?"

"As if you don't know." Venus growled with a glare.

"What would I know?" Marcos asked with a smirk.

"I know you know, don't play this game with me. I'm not in the mood."

"You know that I know that Ash is in the hospital?" Marcos taunted. "And that it's my fault. I'm the one that told Lance to shoot up Toretto's house?"

"Thank you for admitting that." Came Sergeant Tanner's voice. "Gentlemen, if you'd kindly escort our suspect to a holding cell."

Two officers came up and grabbed Marcos and dragged him away as Venus glared at him.

"And I was so hoping to punch him." She muttererd before turning to look at Sergeant Tanner.

"So, what are you here for?" He asked her as he watched her set Luciano on the ground and grab her purse as she stood up.

"I wanted to let you know that, even though Ashlynn is in the hospital, we still expect you and the jerk of an FBI Agent to find out who hurt Luciano." Venus said. "And we're moving Ashlynn to a hospital at home. So, we'll be leaving."

"We're in the middle of an investigation, we need you to remain close by." Tanner told her.

"Well, I have work, I can't put it off anymore, otherwise I'm going to lose business. Besides, my physical therapist is being an ass because I missed my last session, so I have to go."

"Can't you find a physical therapist here?"

"I went through quite a few therapists before finding the one I have. I'm not looking for another one. If you need to reach me, call my cell phone." Venus said, pulling out a piece of paper from a notebook and writing her number on it before handing it to Tanner. "But I have to get home. And I do expect you to find who hurt my godson." And with that, Venus and Luciano left.

"When are we going to get home Auntie Venus?" Luciano asked from the back seat as they pulled up to The Fort.

"Soon, c'mon. We'll grab some food and get out of here." She replied as she got out. She led the way into the house and they found Vince and Jesse in the kitchen. Vince was stuffing his face while Jesse sat staring at the wall. "Do you guys have clothes packed?"

"Yeah, I got stuff for me and Vince loaded in Ash's car already." Jesse said, glancing over at Venus.

"Good, when he's done we're getting out of here." Venus said softly. "Whatever food is left, take it with us for the drive."

Twenty minutes later, they were on the road, with a quick pit-stop at Starbucks before they got on the freeway, Venus leading them home.


	18. Chapter 18

Heylo there my dear readers! I think I've finally decided on a title for this story, so if the title changes and you're like "OMG WHAT HAPPENED?", just know, that I'm going to be titling it _**The Quarter Mile**_. And there is a reason for that. Anyways. This chapter, while not particularly long is very special. And it's special because it was finished on and for Venus' birthday. 'Cause she's my Bestest Best Friend Evar! And I love her to bits and pieces. So, with that said, I'd like to say this: **HAPPY BIRTHDAY BESTEST BEST FRIEND EVAR! HOPE YOU LIKE IT!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the original storyline, just my own little twists and characters.**

Enjoy! And Review please!

Fast and the Furious 18

Venus had to admit, despite the current situation, she was glad to be home. She carefully got Luciano out of his booster seat and carried him into the house with Jesse pushing Vince behind her.

"I'll get Dominic to come help you get him inside." She told Jesse before disappearing into the house. She walked into the kitchen and to the living room, ignoring Mia and cradling Luciano as she went. Leon was sitting in the living room, Venus could hear music playing from Silver's room, and she noticed Dom and Letty outside near the pool.

"Hey," Leon called softly as he noticed her.

"Jesse and Vince are in the garage, I told them I'd get Dom, 'cause Vince is in a wheelchair, but it seems he's busy." Venus said softly.

"I'll go help them."

Venus just nodded before turning towards the hallway and disappearing towards the bedrooms. She took Luciano and laid him in Ashlynn's room before leaving and letting Silver know that she and the others were there.

"So they transferred Ash?" Silver asked softly.

"Yeah, they said that we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see her, just so they can monitor her, but yeah." Venus said, her arms crossed.

"It'll be ok, V." Silver told her, wrapping her friend in a hug.

"I hope so." Venus whispered. "I'm gonna go out to my workshop."

"Really?" Silver asked as she released the taller girl. "You haven't been out there in a while."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm just gonna go sit out there for a while." Venus said softly before disappearing from sight.

Silver sighed as she watched her friend walk away. She knew that the taller girl was going to break down, she just wished that Venus would actually break down in front of her, rather than going and doing something destructive. She knew better than to stop Venus, she'd tried that before; it ended badly.

Venus walked out of the house in a daze, passing Dom and Letty as she walked around the back of the house to one of the workshops that she and Ashlynn had put up while Silver had been visiting her mom and sisters a while back. They had spent hours setting this one up so that Venus could work on the paint jobs for each of their cars or just work on her car when she didn't want to do it in the garage. She sat on the stool that she had in there and just looked at everything as she let the reality of everything sink in again, for probably the millionth time. Tears of frustration, anguish, and dread slowly welled up in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks as she started shaking; finally allowed herself to break down.

Dom and Letty watched as the pixie-haired girl passed them in an apparent daze. Their conversation halted as she had passed, curiously watching her.

"Think she'll be alright?" Letty asked, watching at the younger girl disappeared into the building.

"I dunno, she's strong. She's been through a lot." Dom told her softly, turning his attention back to her. "She's been through more than she wants to admit. This could break her. This could break all of us."

"You're worried about her." She'd said it nonchalantly, but Dom could tell the Latina was worrying about his faithfulness.

"She told me her story," He said, sadness tainting his tone. "She's got no one but Ash left. She thinks the other girl is drifting away from them, and with what Mia told us from what she was told, the girl _is_ gonna leave. If Ash doesn't pull through, Venus has nothing left. She told me that Ashlynn is her family, that she lost her parents and her brother, she can't lose anyone else and still be alright afterwards without people to support her. She needs someone else she can count on; she needs family."

"You want us to be her family?" Letty questioned doubtfully.

"We're not the most perfect family, but we're a family." Dom said with a soft, sad smile.

"She doesn't even like us."

"Don't have to like the people you call family, just so long as you can call them family."

Anything Letty would have said was interrupted by a loud crash from the building Venus had disappeared into. They both looked at it as Leon, Mia, and Jesse came out, Vince was watching from where Leon and Jesse had settled him on the couch. The sound of objects hitting the wall informed them that things were being thrown around.

"What's going on?" Mia asked, eyes wide as she look from her brother and Letty to the workshop.

"She's breaking down." Came Silver's soft voice from behind the three of them. "Just ignore it. She'll get worse if you don't."

"She do this often?" Leon asked.

"Only when she reaches her breaking point. She bottles everything up until the bottle can't contain it anymore and then she'll demolish something. This time it's her workshop, something she and Ash set up together." Silver explained.

"What was it last time?"

"The stable." She said with a gesture towards the other side of the yard where, some distance from the house, sat the aforementioned stable. "She scared the horses and it took forever to restore the stable to its organized state after she was finished."

"So, you're saying that we should just ignore her temper tantrum?" Jesse asked.

"That is not a temper tantrum. You'd know if she was throwing a temper tantrum." Silver said softly. "That's a breakdown. Everything that has happened the past few days has reminded her of things that she would rather stay buried, and that has led to her emotions building up within her, but because she won't express them, they've boiled over. That is what is happening right now; she's letting all of those emotions out so that she'll once again be emptied and the process will start all over again."

"And we're just supposed to let it happen?" Leon asked.

"Unless you want to end up in the hospital with Ashlynn, I would suggest just letting it be. Pretend that you haven't heard anything; watch television, play a game, eat, swim, have music playing, but do not give her any indication that you bore witness to her breakdown in any way." Silver said before disappearing into the house once again.

Dom watching as Silver disappeared again and exchanged looks with the team, his family. "I'm going in there, you guys do as she said, pretend you didn't notice anything."

"Is that wise?" Letty asked, one eyebrow raised. "The tiny one just said that would be stupid."

"Well, then this is just another thing to add to the list of stupid shit I've done." Dom said as he stood up. "Just act like nothing is wrong when you see her."

The team exchanged looks, but all gave their own inclination of agreement before returning to what they were doing as Dom walked towards the workshop. Being polite, he knocked on the door, only to receive an object being thrown at it and a yelled "Go away!" through the door. Ignoring her, Dom opened the door, only to duck as a wrench flew towards him.

"I said GO AWAY!" She snapped, looking for another object to throw at him, only to be unable to find anything.

"No, I'm not leaving." Dom said as he closed the door behind him, only the light from the setting sun pouring in from the dirty windows lit the destroyed space.

"Leave me alone!" Venus cried as she kicked around some of the paint cans and various trinkets that littered the floor. There were torn drawings scattered across the room, what appeared to be a work desk was upturned; that had probably been the big crash that they'd heard.

"No." Dom responded calmly as he made his way towards her.

"Yes!"

Dom didn't said anything as he reached her, he just wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her smaller frame in a hug.

"Let go!" She hissed, beating her fists against him.

"Calm down."

"NO!"

"Then I'm not letting go."

Venus growled before biting his arm, hoping to get him to release her.

"Stop biting me. I'm not going to let go until to calm the fuck down."

Venus just bit harder, sinking her teeth into his flesh as hard as she could, nearly breaking the skin. That resulted in Dom flicking her ear, not really causing her pain, but it annoyed her when he continued to do it. They went on like this for a few minutes, biting and flicking, until Venus' jaw started to hurt and she had to release her hold on Dom's arm. Though, as soon as she'd released his arm, she started thrashing around, trying to get away from him.

"I'm not letting go, not until you chill the fuck out." Dom informed her, practically dragging her to a relatively clear spot next to the far wall, away from the door, and then slid down, pulling Venus with him, so that they were sitting, leaning against the wall.

"Just leave me alone!"

"Last thing you need right now is to be alone."

"That's what I want! I WANT TO BE ALONE!" She nearly screamed, tears running down her face as her whole body trembled from the excessive emotions running rampant through her.

"Family doesn't let family be alone when they're hurting."

Venus opened her mouth to yell at him again, only to stop short as what Dom said processed. "What did you just say?"

"Family doesn't let family be alone when they're hurting."

"I'm not your family." She said resolutely.

"Not by blood, no."

"Not at all."

"You are so."

"How do you figure that?" She snapped, wiping her face of her tears, only for more to take their place.

"You said that Ash was all you had. That makes her your family, that makes you my family." Dom told her, relaxing his hold on her as she seemed to calm down. "That means I'm here for you, and so are the others. They just might take a while to get used to you exceptional personality."

Venus snorted. "Sarcasm is not a good look for you."

"No, maybe not, but being a big brother is." He told her.

Venus gave a tiny smile before more tears fell from her eyes. "I can't lose her." She whispered from trembling lips.

"I know." He said softly, hugging her close as she cried.

He held her as she cried, not saying anything, just holding her in a comforting embrace, letting her know that he was there for her. Dom didn't know how many minutes had passed as he held her, but slowly Venus stopped crying. Her tears slowed before halting altogether but she still trembled, though, not as bad as she had previously.

"You can let go now, I'm alright." Venus told him softly.

"You're not alright," Dom stated flatly.

Venus sighed. "Alright, I'm okay now, I'm not gonna rampage again."

"I'll accept that." Dom said, releasing Venus from his hold and stood up. "Sure did a number on this place."

"It happens." Venus muttered as she grabbed his offered hand and let herself be pulled up from the ground. "It's a part of my process."

"Part of your process?" Dom asked dubiously, eyebrow raised as he watched her pick her way across the room towards the door.

"Yeah," Venus replied as she opened the door. "I destroy something, cry, bake, then I start the whole process all over again."

"You need a more productive process."

"I've always been destructive when it comes to my emotions, but I did have a more productive process for a while." She muttered as Dom walked towards her.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And what was that?"

Venus sighed as she walked out of the workshop with Dom behind her. "I would work on X's car, rebuilding it, 'cause I didn't want them to junk it."

"So what happened?"

"I had finally finished the body, I was gonna order the glass for the windows when I found out that the guy I was dating at the time was cheating on me because I wasn't putting out. It was like that saying, uhm… The straw that broke the camel's back, that's what it was, everything came crashing down and no matter what Ash or S said, they couldn't comfort me. S tried to stop me when I got destructive and it just made it worse. I destroyed the barn, scared the crap out of the horses, then after I couldn't destroy anything else in the stable, I attacked the car."

"You attacked the car that you spent hours upon hours fixing?" Dom asked incredulously.

"I know, right? What the hell is wrong with me?" Venus said with a sarcastic smile. "And after that, I just couldn't work on it anymore. I haven't been in my workshop since that day, until now."

"Where's the car now?" Dom asked curiously.

"Ash moved it into one of the garages and cleaned up the workshop. I've avoided both places for a very long time." Venus said so softly that Dom almost couldn't hear her.

"How long?"

"Well, I was seventeen. I turned twenty-one earlier this year. So, four years."

"No wonder it was so dusty in there." Dom joked, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

Venus let out a half-hearted laugh, "Yeah."

"C'mon Baby V, show me this car."

Venus raised an eyebrow. "Baby V?"

"Well, otherwise, you'll just end up being constantly confused with Vince."

"Ew." She muttered, causing Dom to laugh.

"C'mon, I wanna see this car. You haven't told me what make and model it is."

Venus whined, yes, whined, "I don't want to see it. It'll make me feel like a failure that I haven't finished it."

"Nope, let's go, right now." Dom mock ordered, though, he was half serious.

Venus grumbled and crossed her arms, grudgingly leading the way to the garage of the guest house and opened the left door. She didn't watch as the door slid up, revealing the dented and scratched body of a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1, finding that she couldn't look at it and not feel disappointed in herself.

"This is your brother's car?" Dom asked, entering the garage and circling the car. "The one who's windshield you flew through?"

"Yeah, that would be this car."

"And you attacked it because you were pissed?"

"Yes, okay? That's what I did!" She snapped, looking to her right, so she wouldn't chance seeing the car.

"Look at it."

"No!"

"C'mon, just look at it."

"I don't want to."

"We can fix this, it's not the end of the world."

"_We_?" She asked surprised, so surprised that she turned to look at him. Her eyes went wide as she realized she'd done what he'd wanted, looked at the car, because he was standing at the back of the garage near the hood of the car. "You're an asshole."

"Maybe, but I meant it, we can fix it up. It'll look brand new when we're done."

"Really?" She asked softly, feeling small as she fought the tears that started welling up in her eyes.

"Of course." He told her, stepping out of the garage, holding his arms open as invitation for a hug. Venus took a few deep breaths, staring at Dom hesitantly before slowly approaching him and accepting his offered hug.

"You know," She began softly from where her face was buried in his chest. "You might be an asshole sometimes, but you're right. Big brother is a good look for you."

Dom laughed and kissed the top of her head like he used to do with Ashlynn when they were younger. "Told you. Now, c'mon Baby V, I'm hungry and Mia has been cooking up a storm."

Venus snorted, hiding the small smile on her face at the brotherly gesture and closed the garage. "Yeah, yeah. She's getting kicked out of the kitchen tomorrow when I get home from physical therapy. She can deal with the outdoor kitchen."

Dom laughed. "I'll be sure to inform her."

The two made their way up into the house, Venus ignoring the looks she knew she was getting and Dom shaking his head ever so slightly to indicate not to say anything. Everyone gathered in the dining room, where Mia had set the table and nearly covered it with mountains of food.

"Leftovers for weeks." Venus mumbled to herself as Silver and Luciano entered the room. As soon as she sat down, Venus found her lap invaded by Luciano, who was still wrapped in one of Ashlynn's jackets and seemed to be shaking. "What's wrong kiddo?"

"I had a bad dream." He whispered sadly, curling up against her.

"What happened?" She asked softly, wrapping her arms around the young boy.

"Mamma…" He whimpered.

"What about her?"

"I dreamed that she didn't wake up, that she died, like Uncle X," Luciano mumbled brokenly. "And then everyone else left me. All alone. Nobody wanted me because Mamma died."

"Don't you worry kiddo," She whispered to him, resting her forehead against the top of the boy's head, hiding the tears in her eyes. "I'm not gonna leave you alone, alright? I promise."

Dinner was eaten in a relative silence, light conversation made here and there, all avoiding the one topic they knew would ruin the somewhat relaxed atmosphere. A few laughs were shared at the look on Mia's face when she was informed that she wouldn't be allowed in the kitchen tomorrow after twelve noon. With dinner finished, leftovers put away, and the dishes done, the team was lazing around the television while Silver disappeared to her room and Venus took Luciano to his room to change into pajamas, stopping at her room to do the same before returning to the living room. She watched with a soft smile as Luciano padded over to the large sectional and sat between Dom and Jesse.

The next morning, Venus found herself with her physical therapist, getting frustrated as the current exercise he wanted her to work on caused her back to twinge and spasm.

"UGH! Why can't I do this!" She finally snapped.

"You know very well that it takes time and you can't force it, otherwise you'll find yourself in a lot of pain." Scott explained calmly, used to her outbursts; that was after all the reason she continued to come to him for the physical therapy, he could put up with her and give back when needed.

"I hate you sometimes." She hissed in annoyance.

"I hate you too sometimes." He deadpanned. "Anyways, we should stop here for today, you've worked yourself for two hours. Any more and you might damage yourself."

"Wouldn't be the first time." She quipped bitterly.

"Well, no, it wouldn't, seeing as that's why you're here." He stated matter-of-factly, grinning at the glare she sent him.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Asshole."

"Slut."

Venus giggled softly. "I have to admit, it's never boring around you."

"Around _me_? Sweetie, what about _you_?" He countered, crossing his arms.

"Good point. Anyways, I have people to kick out of my kitchen so I can bake. So, I should get going." Venus said, grabbing her purse and glasses.

"Oooh, baking? I want something." Scott said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"You're so gay."

"Yes, I am. Want to state some other obvious factoid about me?"

"No, I'm good."

"So, do I get any baked goods?"

"I'll think about it."

"You better." He said with mock sternness as he walked her out. "I expect sweet, tasty goodness."

"Can't you just get that from your boyfriend?"

"Oooh, someone's cheeky today."

"I deserve to be cheeky." Venus informed him as she opened her car door.

"Uh-huh, sure," He said with an exaggerated eye roll before pulling her into a hug. "You just take care of yourself."

"You too." She told him softly, hugging him tightly. "I don't want to go looking for another physical therapist."

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here."

"Going." She said as she got in her car. "Ten o'clock, Friday, yeah?"

"You got it." Scott confirmed with a smile.

"'Kay." Venus said as she closed the door and started the engine. With a wave, she was gone.

When Venus finally returned home at just after one-thirty, she was laden with bags of baking ingredients and had to make a few trips from the garage to the kitchen; even with Leon's offered help. When everything was finally in the house, Venus banished everyone from the kitchen, and if they absolutely needed something from the kitchen, well, they'd better not get in her way or touch the stuff she was going to be making. She was pulling out mixers and bowls when she heard Dom and Letty behind her.

"What?" She asked, not bothering to turn around as she gathered measuring utensils.

"Damn, chika, did you buy the entire aisle?" Letty asked seriously.

"Uhm, just about, maybe?" Venus replied, just as serious.

"You gonna have enough room for everything you're making?" Dom asked, clearly amused.

"I'll make room." Venus told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Duh."

Dom laughed. "If you say so. Anyways, where's your alcohol?"

"Uhm, in the garage, there's a fridge kind of off to the side from Ash's car, after she got back from visiting you guys, she went out and bought some stuff. Said something about some things never changing." Venus replied, as she measured out a few different ingredients.

"Alright, then, we will stay out of your way then." Dom said and Venus could hear the smile that was no doubt on his face as he and Letty started towards the garage.

"Much appreciated." She mumbled, not really paying attention to them any more.

For a few hours, Venus worked uninterrupted baking brownies, cupcakes, cheesecakes and pies. When she was interrupted, it was because Luciano had come into the kitchen and tugged on her shirt.

"Auntie V?" He asked softly, almost timidly.

"What's up, squirt?" She asked, grabbing ingredients for homemade whipped cream; Cheesecake Factory status.

"Can you make chocolate chip cookies?" He asked.

"I think I can do that." She said, giving the boy a smile.

"Can I help?" He asked eagerly.

"Gotta take your mom's jacket off, don't wanna get it all mess, right?"

"Okay!"

Venus smiled again, "Alright, just let me make this whipped cream and we'll make the cookie dough, okay?"

"OKAY!" Luciano exclaimed, seating himself at the island counter, out of Venus' way while he waited, bouncing slightly.

Venus rolled her eyes, but she was glad to see him happy as she proceeded to make the whipped cream. When she was done with that, she gathered everything the two of them would need and moved it to the island where Luciano sat so that he wouldn't have to move and Venus still had full range of the kitchen. They were putting the first set of trays in the oven when Dom came in to inform Venus that dinner would be ready by about six-thirty.

"Okay," She said with a shrug, grabbing a bottle of juice from the fridge. She raised an eyebrow at him as he stood, leaning against the doorframe, shoulder shaking from his nearly silent chuckles, a grin on his face. "What?"

"You always powder your hair with flour?" He asked.

"What?"

"Your hair, it's got a nice layer of flour covering it."

Venus looked affronted. "How the hell?" Luciano giggled and Venus turned to look at him. "What did you do, squirt?"

"When you told me to put the flour in the mixer, you turned to grab the sugar and when I dumped the flour, a big cloud of it flew in the air. You didn't even notice, Auntie V!" He said through his giggles.

"I'm gonna get out squirt!" She cried, setting her juice down and scooping the boy up before he could scramble off of the chair.


	19. Chapter 19

So, finally another update. This is probably one of the shortest chapters I've written, but I still hope all my readers enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: I've said it numerous times, I don't own anything from the actual storyline.**

Enjoy! :)

Fast and the Furious 19

After cleaning up the mess she and Luciano made, while Dom took Luciano to get clean, Venus did her best to get the flour out of her hair. When the cookies were done, she took out the two trays and transferred them to a cooling rack before loading the trays with more cookie dough and putting them into the oven again. As six-thirty grew nearer, she was placing the finished sweets and desserts on one counter and all of the ingredients on another one. She was cleaning the counters she'd used to make the batters and fillings when the timer went off and she pulled the trays from the oven and transferred those cookies to their own cooling rack, setting the trays aside for after dinner. She had turned off the oven and resumed cleaning the counters when Dom walked back into the kitchen.

"Dinner's ready." He told her, watching her carefully as she continued wiping down the counter she was currently at, scrubbing when something wasn't coming up.

"I'll be out in a minute." Venus muttered distractedly.

"I've heard that one before." Dom muttered as he walked up behind her and picked her up.

"SHIT!" She screeched, dropping the sponge in surprise before she struggled to get away from Dom. "Put me down, I am capable of walking thank you very much!"

Once the two of them reached the living room, Dom set Venus down and led her out into the backyard where the covered outdoor living room where the others were already gathered. There was a variety of food covering the circular table and everyone had plates in their hands, waiting for Dom and Venus to show up. Soon, grace was said, plates were filled, and the food consumed.

"So, how was your physical therapy?" Dom asked from Venus' left.

"It was fine," She replied with a shrug as she picked at the barbequed hamburger chunk that was slathered with barbeque sauce; it looked too much like a mini meatloaf for her taste. "Like it always is."

"Don't sound so enthused." Dom quipped sarcastically.

Venus snorted. "It just gets… frustrating sometimes."

"Why?"

"Well, 'cause my muscles twinge in pain when I do some of the exercises. Which then results in me not being able to do the exercise without causing myself pain."

"What kind of exercises?" Dom asked curiously.

"Just simple things, like stretching or twisting, trying to get the flexibility of my muscles to increase so I can move and do things without it hurting." Venus explained softly, eating some of the pasta salad that had been piled on her plate. "It frustrates me that I can't do all of the stretches or like, I was laying on my back and had to try and move my leg in a circle, but I couldn't 'cause my back would tense up and my leg would just stop, like it was locked in place."

"Sounds like a work in progress to me." Dom said carefully. "Just gotta take it slow. It's like putting a car back together."

"Should have known you'd make a car analogy out of it." Venus muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm right though and you know it." Dom grinned.

"I know," Venus mumbled.

"So, your tiny friend took Mia to the hospital today," Dom informed Venus softly, who noticed that everyone else seemed to be ignorant of their conversation.

"Oh yeah?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, while you were off shopping before you got back. They literally got here five minutes before you did."

"How is she?"

"Stable."

"But not awake."

"Not yet. She'll wake up when she's ready."

Venus was quite for a few moments before she spoke so softly that Dom wasn't sure she'd spoken at all. "How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not," Dom told her. "But I like to think that I still know my cousin well enough to know that she wouldn't leave you or the kid alone."

After dinner, Venus and Luciano were back in the kitchen to finish baking the dough they had made. During the down time between tray batches, Venus strategically moved things around in the fridge so that leftovers from dinner and all the desserts she had made could fit. She'd also threatened to stab anyone who touched the desserts she made without prior permission. She proved that she would enforce what she said when Leon had tried to snag a cookie after her warning; just to see if she'd do it, he said. When the last batch of cookies were finished, it was around nine and Venus was adamant that Luciano bathe and be in bed by nine-thirty. She wasn't going to let Ashlynn's schedule for the boy go to hell just 'cause she wasn't here to enforce it.

"You baking for an army?" Dom asked a while after Luciano had gotten in bed, leaning against the doorframe leading from the living room to the kitchen.

"It'll be gone in a few days, so no, not an army," Venus replied as she whisked egg yolks for the Tiramisu she was making. "Just you guys."

"Funny." Dom deadpanned.

"I thought so." She shot back as she added the sugar and wine. "Was there a specific reason for you coming in here, other than to pester me?"

"Some dog hotel place called while you gave the kid a bath. They were wondering when you were going to be picking up the dogs." The way Dom said it made it sound like it was half question and half statement as he watched Venus. "I told them someone would be there to pick them up by the end of the week."

"Shit!" Venus hissed as she moved towards the stove where there was a saucepan with water in it. "I knew I was forgetting something! UGH!"

"How do you guys afford to have all this stuff?" Dom asked curiously.

"Ash told you what we do for work, didn't she?" Venus countered as she monitored the mixture she'd been whisking. "She teaches kids to dance, I teach people to horse ride, Silver teaches art." She paused, tilting her head slightly. "And Ash and I have worked on people's cars. That brought in quite a bit of money. But it was also a pain in the ass."

"Really?" Dom asked as he watched Venus turn the stove off and remove the bowl from the saucepan and return to the counter she'd been working at.

"Yeah," Venus began as she poured heavy cream into another bowl and grabbed a clean whisk, turning towards Dom as she spoke. "I mean, most of the people in town don't race, but those that do race go to neighboring cities that have them. And you've seen our cars, the paintjobs alone catch people's attention." She explained while she began whipping the cream. "When we were in high school, Ash's dad taught us all about fixing cars, I remember that X had actually taken the auto shop class when he attended high school, and he said that he learned more from Ash's dad than the teacher at the school. So, a lot of people would go to the garage that X worked in…" She paused, taking a deep breath as she recalled fonder memories. "So, after he died, when I was healed enough, I started working on X's car, and people we went to school with gave their condolences and all that bullshit, but they weren't really sincere, they were just hoping that I had the skill my brother had with engines. And I'm not quite as good as X was, but I know my way around and engine, but I prefer exterior detailing." Venus sighed softly. "The workshops that are out there, Ash and I built those with her dad's permission; despite the fact that her mother hated the idea."

"What did my uncle have to say about that?" Dom asked from where he now sat at the island counter.

Venus laughed. "He told her that it was better than us going out and doing stupid shit." She shrugged with a smile. "So, like, for a while, we had our own garage service, me and Ash. And we'd both work on the engines and sometimes she'd help with a paintjob, but usually it was just me. I never did anything as extravagant as what I did for our cars, 'cause that would take _forever_, but I would do something that wasn't boring. Then, when the people would go to the races, people would see the artwork and they would see the work that went into the engines and we got a LOT of calls from people from out of town." She continued, placing the soft peaked whipped cream on the counter and turning her attention to a bowl of mascarpone cheese. "Which wasn't a problem."

"So what was the problem?" Dom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The time frame." Venus replied. "It was just me and Ash, sometimes her dad would help with the engines and sometimes Silver would help with the engines and the paintjobs, but it still didn't help _too_ much. We once had four cars we were working on, just engines for two of them, and engines and paint for the other two. The drivers expected them in time for the next weekend race. Which, if we'd have been given a WHOLE week, _might_ not have been too bad."

"But?" Dom asked as he watched Venus pour the zabaglione mixture onto the cheese.

"But," Venus continued as she mixed the contents of the bowl in her hand. "We got them on the Wednesday before the races."

"How often are the races held?"

"Used to be every other weekend." Venus grumbled. "So, I was annoyed, very annoyed. Ash was trying to be positive about it, but she was annoyed too. So, we checked all the engines first, tried to be thorough and quick. We worked well into the night on them so that they would be done the next day so that I could get the paintjobs done. I didn't really do anything fancy, even less fancy than some of the jobs I'd been doing." She explained as she poured the whipped cream into the bowl she was mixing in. "So, after that, we told everyone that if they weren't going to give us ample time to work on their cars while living our lives, we weren't going to be doing anymore work, and we upped the prices. And we've held true to that. There are some people who call someone who knows us and the person who knows us will get in touch with us somehow and tell us about the job. If we think it's worth our time, we'll do it, but if not, we don't."

"Simple as that?" Dom asked.

"Simple as that." Venus replied. "Though, seeing as I'm not entirely sure how long I'm supposed to hold you captive, I'm sure I could talk to some of them and you all can have something to do in this town. For a while, anyways."

"You said you upped the prices. Upped them how much?"

"It varies for the engine work, but for the paint jobs, I charge fifteen hundred for a consultation, which goes towards whatever materials I'm going to need for the job, and it's about two grand for every day I spend working on the car." Venus replied, as she set the bowl down and grabbed a twelve by eight inch pan and the ladyfingers and espresso. "Sometimes depending on the car I'll charge up to three grand or more."

"Very pricy." Dom hummed as he watched Venus dip the ladyfingers into the espresso and line the pan with them.

"I'm good at what I do, if they don't want to pay the price, they can find someone else to go to." She said with a shrug, grabbing the bowl and spreading half of the cream mixture over the layer of ladyfingers. "Not like I'm to only one around who can do a decent paintjob."

"Decent?" Dom asked in disbelief. "Have you seen your cars? That's more than decent."

Venus just shrugged as she repeated the process of dipping the ladyfingers and lining them up in a second layer. She continued to spread the other half of the cream mixture before she grabbed the cocoa powder and a mini sifter. Dom watched in silence as she covered the entire top of the cream with the cocoa powder before putting it into the free space that she had cleared a little more than an hour and a half before.

"So, back to your original question, is the answer to your satisfaction?" Venus asked, turned beck around to face him, her tone implying that she wasn't really all that interested in whether she'd quenched his curiosity.

Dom laughed as he stood up and walked to the sink to help her with the dishes. "Are you always such a bitch?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Venus deadpanned as she stared at Dom totally straight-faced, to which Dom just laughed.

The next two days passed in a similar manner; Venus would bake, Mia would cook, Venus would clean up some of the workshop with Dom's help, Venus would take care of the horses and bake some more. And now, she was on her way to her physical therapy appointment with 'sweet, tasty goodness' for Scott as requested, or rather, demanded. She arrived with ten minutes to spare and walked into the building, noticing that Scott's car was the only other one in the lot.

"I HAVE SWEET, TASTY GOODNESS!" Venus called out as she slid her sunglasses up to sit on her head.

"Ooooh, you're early," Scott called back as he walked towards her from the hall.

"I was checking out the preschool that Ash signed Luc up for. Didn't take as long as I thought it would, so here I am. With your previously demanded sweet, tasty goodness. There's Tiramisu, chocolate chip cookies- courtesy of Luc-, a whole cheesecake with home made whipped cream in a tub, a few different brownie recipes, a few different types of cupcakes, and a couple slices of different pies." Venus rattled off to him, handing over the large basket with the cookies and such as well as a large platter that _barely_ held everything else. "Enjoy."

"Oh, we will," Scott informed her with a leer.

"I do _not_ want to know what you're planning to do with it with your boyfriend. I don't _need_ to know either." She insisted, ready to plug her ears if necessary.

"Spoilsport." Scott mock sniffled.

"Bitch." Venus shot back.

"C'mon, we'll pick up where we left off last time." Scott said, leading her back into the little gym, having deposited the goodies from Venus behind the front desk that never seemed to be used.

For the next two hours, Venus tried to make her way through the little exercises that Scott was putting her through. She got through some, but not others. Her frustration was slowly getting the better of her and she was letting it be known.

"UGH! This sucks!" Venus finally snapped. "I still can't do it. My leg keeps locking up!"

"This kind of thing takes time. You can't force it, alright? We'll work on it on Monday." Scott told her as he helped her stand up.

"Yeah, whatever." Venus muttered moodily.

"Is the guy you want me to work with going to be as moody as you?" Scott jibed playfully at her.

Venus snorted. "He'll probably be worse. They call him Coyote, I assume there's a reason behind it. I'd say I'd ask Ash, but she's not awake."

"Don't despair, she'll wake up when she's ready to." Scott told her softly as he escorted her to the front doors.

"Yeah, but what if she's never ready?" Venus asked so softly Scott almost missed it.

"She wouldn't leave you like that." He said firmly, sure of what he was telling her. "You just keep faith in her."

"Thanks, bitch."

"Welcome, slut." He shot back at her before enveloping her in a one armed hug. "You just take it easy, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." Venus said, mock elbowing Scott in the ribs. "See you Monday." And then she was out the door.

From her physical therapy lesson, Venus made her way to the doggie hotel, slash, camp and was glad she'd driven the Expedition rather than her own Mustang. She still couldn't believe that she'd forgotten the dogs, she felt _really_ bad.

"Hello, how may I help you today?" Asked the perky brunette behind the counter.

"I'm here to pick up Jericho and Myka. They were supposed to be checked out a few days ago." Venus replied.

"Oh, of course. Just one moment, please." The woman, Debbie according to her nametag, said cheerfully, causing Venus to want to gag. How peppy could this woman be? Actually, she didn't want to know, she decided as the woman pulled information up on the screen before disappearing into the back. Debbie reappeared about ten or so minutes later with two dogs; a German Shepherd, Jericho, and a Siberian Husky, Myka, who were both excited to see Venus.

"Oh, hi dogs!" Venus said in a voice she only ever used when talking to animals, but if you ever called her on it, she'd deny it to your face. "How's my handsome Jericho? Awe, Myka-girl, you're so cute!"

"The extra days were charged to the account, so you're free to leave!" Debbie cried joyously as she handed over the leashes.

"Thanks." Venus replied warily as she slowly inched her way out the door with the dogs in tow, not wanting to give the woman a reason to have another freaky out burst. "In the car, dogs." She muttered as she opened the back door. "Time to go home."

The drive back to the house took about thirty minutes, give or take, and when she parked the car in the garage, the two dogs were ready to run around their home and Venus couldn't help but laugh. She grabbed the leashes and led the dogs in the house, gaining the attention of Leon and Jesse, who were sitting in the living room.

"Luciano!" Venus called. "Myka's back!"

"MYKA!" Came a muffled cry and soon their was the sound of pounding feet coming from the second floor as Luciano bounded towards the stairs.

"Careful kiddo, no running on the stairs! Bad things will happen." She said matter-of-factly, as if she was speaking from experience. For all anyone else knew, she probably was.

"Myka! Jericho!" Luciano exclaimed as he reached the foyer, running at the dogs where Venus had them sitting.

"What's all this ruckus?" Came Vince's voice from behind Venus.

"Dogs are home." Venus told him, motioning to the dogs that Luciano was currently hugging and rambling to, not that they minded. If their wagging tails were anything to go by. "C'mon Luc, let's take them outside."

"OKAY!" The child cried, running past Vince with a "Hi Uncle Vince!" as he did so.

Venus rolled her eyes as she followed Luciano with the dogs at a more sedate pace. As soon as they were outside, Venus leg the dogs off their leashes and they were off chasing a ball that Luciano had thrown. Venus smiled softly as she watched Luciano jump around as the dogs came bounding back at him, Jericho had got the ball. Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone going off in her pocket. She frowned at the number, from the Los Angeles area, figuring it was that police sergeant that apparently knew her parents; yeah, right. Sighing, she answered.

"Hello?" Venus mumbled unenthusiastically.

"Well, that wasn't quite the greeting I was expecting." Came a voice that was definitely not the police sergeant's. "I thought you'd be excited."

"Johnny?" She cried in happy disbelief.


	20. Chapter 20

Okie Dokie. So, Chapter 20! I'm kinda really excited. I hope you all enjoy it! I've started uploading pictures that pertain to the story on my profile. So far, only Venus, Silver, and the stable are there, but I will be getting pictures of the house up so you all know what it looks like and don't have to be like "Uh, wait, what? Does the house even have ANY structure?" I assure you, the house HAS structure.

So, I think that's all. I really liked writing this chapter. And I hope you all enjoy it. **_AND I WOULD APPRECIATE MORE REVIEWS!_**

**Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters. Nothing's changed.**

Fast and the Furious 20

"There it is." Johnny said softly and Venus could hear the smile in his voice.

"Sorry, I didn't recognize the number. Thought maybe it was the police department with questions or something." Venus explained, a huge grin lighting up her face. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

"When did you, uh, wake up?" She asked as she watched the dogs come back, Jericho had beaten Myka to the ball and was dancing around Luciano before dropping the now slobber covered ball, waiting for it to be thrown again.

"Last night, they were running all sorts of tests, otherwise I'd have called then."

"It's alright," Venus informed him. "I've been in a sort of, well, Ash would call it a baking frenzy."

"Oh yeah?" Johnny asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, I've probably gained like ten pounds in the last three days." Venus said as Letty and Dom walked outside.

"Oh, shut up girl, you have not." Letty told her with a roll of her eyes.

"Who was that?" Johnny asked.

"Letty," Venus replied as she watched the dogs take off for what was probably the twentieth time.

"Really?"

"Yeah. The whole family is here."

"Why?"

"For Ash."

"How is she?"

Venus could no longer here the smile in his voice and she sighed. "Ash is still in her coma… The doctor that was in charge of here down there said that the toxins from her ruptured appendix spread through her blood system. He said it's just a matter of time before she wakes up, but she's still not awake. I mean, I guess that the transfer could have set things back a little bit, but we haven't been told if that's the case."

"Hence your baking frenzy?" Johnny asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Venus giggled softly, "Yeah, that would explain that. Plus, my physical trainer demanded sweet, tasty goodness."

"Is there something I should know?" Johnny teased.

"Ha, no. He's gay. Flamboyant almost. It's kinda funny." Venus replied. "Paying him with money isn't enough compensation for the trauma I apparently put him through during therapy sessions, so he says."

Johnny laughed, "I see."

"Careful Luc!" Venus called as she watched the boy nearly get knocked over my and overly excited Myka.

"How's the kid doing?" Johnny asked in concern.

"He's… alright, I think." Venus sighed as she sat down on one of the lounge chairs as Dom walked over to Luciano and the dogs. "Before we transferred Ash, he wouldn't talk much. He'd curl up in on of Ash's jackets and sleep next to Jesse, he'd talk to Dom on the phone in Italian, but that's it. He's a little more lively now that we're home, but he's still upset. Which is understandable. He starts preschool on Monday, I'm not sure how it's gonna be for him." She giggled as she watched Jericho jump at Dom to try and get the ball the tall man was holding hostage. "He seems alright at the moment, he and Dom are playing with the dogs. He's still having lessons with Silver, kid's gonna be a genius."

"Of course he is, he's got a great family." Johnny chuckled.

"So, when are you out of the hospital?"

"Couple days, I think. Docs said something about running more tests. Checking to make sure I won't be having any relapses or something of the sort."

"That would suck."

"Yes, it would. So," He paused. "I woke up with this lovely bracelet on, but it appears to have someone else's name on it."

"Oh yeah?" She asked, feigning ignorance.

"Mhmm, it says the name 'Eva Christiana Giovanna Russo' and as far as I know, that's definitely not my name." He joked.

"Well, then I guess you'll just have to return it to her." Venus said with a shrug he couldn't see.

"I guess I will." He said with a smile she could hear through the phone. "The doctors are back for more tests, so I will have to talk to you later."

"Damn doctors," Venus grumbled. "Alright, I'll see you soon-ish?"

"Definitely."

"Good."

"I'll talk to you later."

"Definitely." She confirmed before they both hung up.

"Auntie Silver, look! Venus heard Luciano exclaim. "Myka and Jericho are back!"

Venus looked over at the door and found Silver standing there with a smile on her face.

"Yes, I see." Silver spoke softly. "They look like they're happy to be home."

Luciano grinned as Silver walked passed and pet the dogs before throwing the ball that Luc handed her. After the dogs took off, Silver made her way over to Venus.

"Hey," Silver said softly as she sat down on the lounge next to Venus.

"Hey," Venus replied with a soft smile. "Everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine. I have a class in about ten minutes. I just got back from the hospital." Silver replied.

"Oh yeah?" Venus asked, feeling her heartbeat accelerate as she thought the worst.

"She moved her hand."

Venus' eye widened slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah," Silver replied softly. "I was talking to her, you know, about stuff, and it felt like she squeezed my hand. The doctor said it's probably just some reaction from her body, but I think he's wrong. She's not making movements other times, the nurses have even said so."

"That's a good sign then, yeah?" Venus asked, looking over at Silver with a sad smile.

Silver nodded. "Yeah. So, I saw you talking on the phone. You were smiling pretty big, was it Johnny? Is he awake?"

Venus' face broke out in a grin. "Yeah, he's awake. Says the doctors are going to keep him for a few more days, run lots of tests, make sure he's one hundred percent ok."

"That's good." Silver smiled as she reached out and squeezed Venus' hand. "Is he gonna come up and visit?"

"I think so." Venus replied, smiling softly. "I, uhm, I left the bracelet that Xander gave me with him. So, you know, he's gonna return it, so yeah."

Venus saw Silver's eyes go wide. "You left it with him?"

"Yeah, you know, hoping for the best, wanting to give him a reason to come and see me." Venus said with a shrug, trying to brush it off.

"But… _Xander_ gave that to you."

"I know. I put my faith in the fact that I was sure he'd wake up and return it to me. So, you know."

"I'm glad he's awake."

"Me too."

"Hey, Tiny!" Leon called from the back door. "There's people at the gate asking for you."

"We can talk later, go have your class." Venus told her with a smile.

Silver smiled and squeezed Venus' hand once more before going into the house, passing Leon where he still stood with the door open.

"Does this mean we have to be nice to that asshole?" Letty asked from Venus' left. She hadn't even heard the Latina walk up.

Venus shrugged, "I suppose not. Not like I can make you be nice. Just don't purposefully instigate anything?"

"So long as he won't." Dom chimed in from near the edge of the deck where he was watching Luciano play with the dogs.

Venus snorted. "Promise?"

Dom turned and grinned at her, "Of course, Baby V."

Even Letty rolled her eyes at him.

"Like I haven't heard that before." Venus mumbled as she stood up. "If you instigate something with him, don't expect me to bail your ass out of the consequences."

With that said, Venus convinced Luciano to come inside and let the dogs relax a bit now that they were back home, and get used to the new people in the house. At three o'clock, Venus opened the gate and let parents dropping their kids off in, greeted them with mild politeness and told them that the lesson would end at five thirty and she'd give the kids until six to do what they wanted, and if necessary, the kids would be allowed to have dinner there.

"What's going on?" Vince asked from where he sat on the couch as he watch Venus bring the kids in, not allowed to move; doctor's orders.

"Horse riding lessons." Venus answered, watching as he rubbed at his right arm. "Don't do that, you'll upset the stitches and they'll have to stay in longer. Have you washed it lately?"

"Yeah, Mia made sure that it's clean." Vince said as he noticed the kids watching him. They varied in ages, but they all seemed to be in elementary school, and he had to admit, they were kinda cute.

"Good, c'mon kids, it's not nice to stare." Venus said as she directed the kids out into the backyard, each of them petting the dogs on the way. "Alright, to the stable. Get your horses saddled." She instructed as she went to do the same. When they were finished, Venus checked each of the horses, just to be sure; didn't need something to be wrong and find out later when it could be detrimental to the kid or the lesson.

The afternoon melted away to early evening. Venus had worked with the four kids on getting the horses warmed up and moved into where they'd last left off; jumping. As the sky began to change, signaling the dying of the day, Venus had decided that they'd worked enough on jumping and instructed the four to work on what they thought was their weak point and that she'd make her way to each of them to help them. By five thirty, they were taking the horses back into the stable and putting them back into their stalls after removing the saddles.

"You all staying for dinner?" Venus asked them, sniffing the air as they made their way to the house. There was a chorus of affirmative responses from the kids and Venus nodded. "Alright, go wash up." She said as they walked up to the pool and lounge area.

"They stay for dinner often?" Dom asked as Venus plopped down on one of the chairs, feeling a little sore.

"It's kinda fifty-fifty, I guess. Jenny's parents are divorced and her mom works two jobs to support her and let her ride, so she's here a lot, but she's a good kid, so it's not a big deal. Sometimes she gets free paint lessons from Silver and dance lessons from Ash; not that her mom knows. Sandra's mom works the night shift, so she drops her off and her husband, who works the day shift, but sometimes works overtime, picks her up when he gets off work or whenever lessons are over. Sometimes, he'll come and watch her ride. Allen's parents are the same way, except his dad works the night shift and mom works the day shift. Jawn's parents are divorced too, but they live in the same apartment complex, so they switch off depending on which shift they work or who's turn it is to have him." Venus explained, shrugging. "But all of the parents make it a point to be at all possible shows."

"Sounding a bit wistful there," Dom stated as he rotated the kabobs that were on the grill.

"Yeah, my parents, while able to pay for all my lessons, weren't always able to make it to many shows. Xander was always there though." Venus said, taking a deep breath, breathing in the scent of dinner. "Mmm, tri-tip kabobs."

Dom chuckled, "How'd you know, you haven't even looked at the grill."

"Xander used to make them all the time. They're probably my favorite grilled dish." She informed him as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of his Corona.

"Yeah. I'm a picky eater. I might not seem like it, but when it comes down to it, there are things I just will not eat." Venus replied as the four kids ran back out. "What else is there to eat with the kabobs?"

"Mia picked up crab legs and zucchini. She's making some sort of stuffed zucchini thing. Something your tiny friend mentioned to her." Dom explained as he pulled a couple of the kabobs off the grill and onto a serving platter.

"Her name is Silver." Venus mumbled as she thought about what dish it could be. "Must be something her mum told her about."

"Miss V?" The young girl with blonde hair and striking hazel and yellow tinged eyes spoke softly, cutting into the conversation.

"Yes, Jenny?" Venus asked, turning to face the girl.

"Where's Miss Ashlynn?" She asked softly, her head tilted curiously.

"Oh, well, you saw the man on the couch?" Venus asked, glancing at each of the kids, knowing they were all curious. They all nodded. "Well, some bad guys hurt him and Ash and her family," She pointed to Dom and Letty, who was lounging and drinking a beer as she watched Dom. "Tried to help him. And one of the head bad guys got mad and hurt Ash, so she's in the hospital getting better."

"Her family? Miss Ashlynn never mentioned having anybody but you guys and her parents." Jawn spoke up from Jenny's left, his dark sapphire blue eyes widening slightly.

"I didn't know she had family either, but she does," Venus explained, gesturing to Dom. "That's her cousin, Dominic and that lady sitting over there, that's his girlfriend, Letty. The lady in the kitchen, that's Ashlynn's other cousin, Dom's sister Mia. The guy that got hurt, his name is Vince, the one Luc was sitting with, that's Jesse, Ashlynn's boyfriend, and the guy that was wearing the jersey, his name is Leon. They're a big family of sorts. And we're all waiting for Ashlynn to get better and come home."

"It's nice to meet you," The brunette girl with heterochromatic eyes spoke softly. "I'm Sandra."

"I'm Jawn," The young boy introduced as he brushed his black hair out of his eyes.

"I'm Allen." The other boy spoke, his sandy colored hair pulled back into a small ponytail, leaving the view of his striking green and hazel eyes unobstructed.

"And I'm Jenny, like Miss V said." The girl said shyly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys too." Dom said with a grin. "Hope you're hungry. Dinner's almost ready."

The kids smiled and nodded before Jenny turned to Venus again. "Can we sit with our feet in the pool?"

"'Course you guys can." Venus said as she stood up. "What do you guys want to drink?"

"Water!" Allen and Sandra cried as they pulled their shoes and socks off and rolled their pant legs up.

"Strawberry lemonade!" Jenny exclaimed as she followed after Allen and Sandra.

"Can I have some regular lemonade, please?" Jawn asked, waiting until Venus nodded before he followed the other three.

"Polite kid." Dom remarked as Venus walked passed him.

"I know." Venus muttered before disappearing into the house to get the requested drinks. She walked down the back hall and into the kitchen, sliding passed Mia to the cabinets that housed the plastic cups before getting into the fridge. She grabbed two bottles of water and filled the cups three quarters of the way with the preferred juices and put a few pieces of ice into both glasses before making her way back outside.

"Not eating inside?" Mia asked before Venus could exit the kitchen.

Venus turned and looked at Mia, then the crab on the platter that hadn't been put into the stuff zucchini thing the woman was making, and then back to Mia. "With crab as a part of dinner, uhm, hell no. Messes get made."

And with that, she was gone as swiftly as she could without spilling the liquid. She met Leon and Vince at the door and let the two go first and thanked Leon when he held the door open for her. Venus set the drinks down on the patio set and returned inside to grab a couple towels for the kids to dry their legs off with when they were done. Minutes later, the food was spread out along the grill bar counter and Venus called the kids up.

"C'mon, dinner time." She said as she handed them the towels as Jesse, Luciano and Silver came outside. Silver's students had left sometime during Venus' riding lesson, which she thought was weird, because usually the shorter girl's students stayed and visited with Luc and sometimes stayed for dinner. But oh well.

Grace was said by Leon, as he was the most impatient and hungry one this time around and then everyone got their plates. Venus and Silver helped the kids get what they wanted and got them situated at the patio table before getting their own plates, seeing at Jesse got Luciano's. Venus ran inside and got herself some strawberry lemonade before taking a seat at the bar counter after telling the kids to let her know if they needed help.

"You're good with kids." Leon mentioned as she sat down between him and Letty.

"Only on my good days." Venus deadpanned, causing Dom to laugh. "I'm serious. You think it's funny, don't ever cross me on a bad day."

"Can't be that bad." Dom told her with a grin.

"Not even Ash wants to deal with me on my bad days." Venus informed him as she pulled the tri-tip, bell peppers, pineapples, and mushrooms from the skewer and popping one of the mushrooms in her mouth. "Mmm, tasty." She muttered around the food in her mouth as she shoveled some of the meat and bell peppers into her mouth.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Letty piped up, an amused smirk on her face as she watched the girl eat.

"Well, basically, I'd do worse than what I did to my workshop, only, it's on a human body rather than in a room." Venus told the girl, glancing at the kids who were giggling as they ate, before she grabbed one of the crab legs and broke the shell and ate the crab meat almost too fast for the others to follow.

"Well damn," Dom muttered, sipping at his beer.

"Told you." Venus shrugged as she broke another part of the shell, staring deadpanned as the crab meat flung up and stuck to the overhang cover. "Well fuck. Ashlynn is not going to appreciate that." Letty and Leon snorted at the look on her face. "Oh well." And with that, she continued eating, stuffing her face with as much of the delicious food the could. "Mmm, this zucchini crab thing is amazingly delicious!" Venus moaned in delight.

"Do you need to be left alone?" Dom teased, earning a glare as Venus flipped him the bird.

"Asshole." She muttered under her breath. "So, was anyone else informed that Ashlynn moved her hand today during Silver's visit?"

"Really?" Letty asked, her eyebrows raising.

"Yeah, S said that they doctor told her it was just a response that Ash's body was making, but S, and I think the nurses too, disagree with him. The nurses said that Ash doesn't make any movements otherwise. And S said that it felt like Ash squeezed her hand."

"Good sign," Leon spoke up. "Means she's coming back to us."

"She fucking better, or I'm gonna find a way to make sure she comes back and kick her ass." Venus grumbled, stabbing at a pineapple on her plate and stuffing it in her mouth.

"You know, it really is hard to believe that you're good with kids when you're like this the rest of the time." Letty observed.

"Yeah, well, I fear for my child." Venus deadpanned. "If I have one."

The others laughed and Venus finished her dinner before going over to the kids to make sure they didn't need anything. Gradually everyone finished eating and took all their dishes into the house and Venus took some of the leftovers, of which there was a _lot_, and put them on some paper plates for the kids' parents. Seriously, Mia must buy in bulk _all the time_ for them to have this much leftover, but all Venus could say was that at least it got eaten and didn't sit in the fridge and spoil because no one ate it. By nine o'clock, Jenny was the last kid there and Venus was about to call the girl's mother to ask if she should drive the young girl home when the intercom buzzed, announcing the girl's mother's arrival.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," The woman said as she pulled up and got out to help Jenny get situated in the back seat.

"It's fine. She's a good kid," Venus told the woman. "This is for you. Leftovers from dinner."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." The woman said with a sad smile.

"No, _trust me_, I really did." Venus replied. "Otherwise, we'd never get rid of the leftovers. Ash's cousin buys tons of food and a lot of it ends up as leftovers. Besides, this way, you don't have to worry about cooking dinner this late. Just heat it and eat, or just eat it. Whichever you prefer."

"Ashlynn's cousin?"

"Yeah, she, uh, Ash had an accident and she's in the hospital. Her family is staying here so they can visit her." Venus replied, resisting the urge to shift uncomfortably.

"Didn't know she had family." The woman said as she put the plate of leftovers on the passenger seat.

"It was a big shock to me and Silver too," Venus assured with a small smile. "Anyways, I will see Jenny on Tuesday, if that works for you."

"Alright," The woman said as she opened the driver side door again. "Thanks again for watching her. I don't mean for this to be such a bother."

"It's no bother." Venus reassured. "Besides, Luciano likes having someone else to talk to. Probably gets boring just having three woman around."

The woman laughed. "You're probably right. Have a good night."

"You too." Venus replied as watched as the woman got into her car and turned back towards the driveway. "Bedtime Luc!" Venus called as she walked back inside.

"Awe!" Said boy cried.

"Nope, you start pre-school Monday, you have to start getting up earlier." Venus said as she walked into the living room. "You'll take a bath in the morning and then we'll go to the hospital and see if you can take that cast off or if it has to stay on for three more weeks."

Luciano pouted. "Okay Auntie V." And with that he said good night to everyone and went upstairs with Venus following him. She helped him change and put him in bed. "Night Auntie V."

"Night kiddo." Venus said softly as she tucked him in and kissed his forehead.

"Mommy's going to be okay, right?" Luciano asked as Venus turned the light off.

Venus looked back at the boy. "Yeah, she's gonna be fine."

"Okay." He whispered.

"Get some sleep kiddo, everything will be fine."

"Okay. Night."

"Night."

Venus closed the door softly and made it down the hall to her room before the tears started falling. She wanted so bad to believe that she wasn't lying to Luciano, but she just wasn't sure. Venus was surprised when she felt someone hug her. She was even more surprised to find that it was Letty hugging her.

"Thought you didn't like me," Venus muttered as she stood in the Latina's embrace.

"I didn't." Letty confirmed as she continued holding Venus.

"What changed?"

"Well, I realized that maybe Dom deserved the punches you threw at him at Race Wars for attacking your man. And I've found out that you're not that badass bitch all the time like you want everyone to think you are. You're rough around the edges, like me, like Dom and Vince. Gotta get passed those edges to find the real person underneath and you'll sometimes be surprised by what you see." Letty explained. "Besides, you're Ashlynn's best friend, you're hurting just as much as we are."

Venus sniffled as she brought her arms up to return Letty's embrace. "She's my family." Venus muttered monotonously.

"Which makes you our family." Letty told her firmly, causing more tears to fall from Venus' eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

So, as I was writing this chapter, I realized, it's kind of depressing. And I hope soon that I will be writing chapters that are happy. BUT! I need reviews. Well, I don't need them, 'cause I'll keep writing this story either way, because I've got all these ideas floating around. But seriously, I would _REALLY_ like to get more than **one or two** reviews. Makes me feel like you guys don't like my story. And that makes me sad. Which put me in the **_PREFECT_** mood to write chapters like this one.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Even if y'all aren't telling me so.

**Disclaimer: Like stated in previous chapters, I do not own anything pertaining to the original storyline.**

Fast and the Furious 21

After her heart to heart with Letty, Venus had laid in bed for almost two hours thinking about the changes that had happened throughout her life. Growing up, she knew she'd been loved by her parents even when they weren't able to be around. She knew that they wanted her to succeed and they did their best to help her do so, just like they hand with Xander. They had always encouraged her to make friends and were ecstatic when she asked if she could invite a friend over when she was six. Granted, that friend was the only friend she had really tried to become friends with; that friend was Silver. The girl who was always there for her and the girl she was always there for while growing up. And then Ashlynn moved to town and she and Silver tried their hand at befriending the sad girl. It had taken a while, but they managed it and brought Xander into the fold.

Then when she turned fourteen, everything seemed to change. Her parents died on the night of her birthday, though her father may have been in a coma, to Venus, he had died that night. She moved in with Ashlynn and her parents. Silver stayed over a lot, avoiding going home to her parents fighting and her father drinking. Sometimes Silver's sisters would be there too. All against Ashlynn's mother's wants. Oh well. Slowly, life continued on and when Xander turned eighteen, they moved into the house here in town. Ashlynn got pregnant, Silver's parents got worse with their fighting and she and Xander got in that accident. That accident where she should have died and X should have lived. The accident that haunted her day and night, with scars that made her face the fact that she was here alone, no family.

But, no, that wasn't true, she had a family. She had Ashlynn and Silver, and Luciano. They were her family. And now, she had even more family. Dom and Letty both told her so. And even so, part of her family was in the hospital again. Ashlynn was lying in the hospital in a coma and there wasn't anything she could do about it. Not a damn thing. All she could do was wait. Wait until her best friend, her sister, woke up from her coma. And what scared Venus the most was that she wasn't sure if Ashlynn would wake up. She hoped and wished the other girl would, but she wasn't sure it would happen. Venus wasn't sure who to turn to either. Usually in a situation like this, she'd turn to Ashlynn or Silver, but she couldn't really do either; Ash was in the hospital, unable to communicate with the waking world, and Silver… well, Silver was drifting away. The quiet girl seemed to be distancing herself from Venus and the older girl couldn't understand why.

These thoughts plagued Venus' mind all morning as she was getting ready to take Luciano to the hospital. She'd already helped the young boy bathe, careful not to get the cast wet, and then dress in a pair of camo shorts and a black tank top. Venus had left Jesse to get the boys' socks and shoes on. And now, as she led Luc out into the garage, Venus forced her saddened thoughts out of her head. Now was not the time to be thinking like that.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Venus was immediately recognized by a few of the staff; you know you've visited, or been in, a hospital too many times when the staff know you by name.

"What can we do for you today Miss Russo?" The woman at the desk asked.

"Uhm, I need to know if it's possible for Luciano to get his cast off or if it needs to stay on longer." Venus explained, gesturing down to the boy.

The woman stood up and looked over the counter to smile down at the young boy. "Well, what happened here?" She asked curiously.

"SWAT happened, actually." Venus muttered.

"Well, I'll call for a doctor," The woman said with a smile as she sat back down in her chair, just go ahead and take a seat.

"And what room is Ashlynn Toretto in?" Venus asked before the woman could page one of the doctors.

The woman looked surprised, but didn't say anything as she began typing on the computer in front of her. "She is in room 327 on the third floor."

"Thanks." Venus mumbled before leading Luciano over to the chairs to wait for the doctor that the woman was now paging.

They were waiting for about ten minutes before one of the elder doctors, whose name escaped her, approached them. "Hello, I believe you're here about a cast?"

"Yes, sir." Venus replied as she and Luciano stood up.

"Well, follow me and we'll figure out the answers to your questions." The man said before leading them into one of the empty exam rooms. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, we took a sort of vacation to Los Angeles, and some things went down and SWAT busted into the home of a family friend that we were staying with. Luciano was scared and ended up clinging to the person they were there for, under false pretenses, and one of the officers got angry and grabbed Luciano by the arm and yanked him off." Venus explained as she pulled out the medical file from her purse. "This resulted in a dislocated shoulder, a hairline fracture on his radial bone, and a gash on the left side of his head that had to be stitched up. So, I guess we're here about that too." She said, looking up at the doctor before handing the file over. "I would like to know if it's possible for his cast and stitches to be removed. He starts preschool on Monday and I don't want him to gain unwanted attention."

Without saying anything, the doctor looked at the x-rays and through the notes made by the doctor from Los Angeles. The man was silent for a few minutes, double or triple checking some things before he finally spoke. "Well, according to the file, based on the x-rays, the fracture wasn't terrible, but the doctor recommended the cast just to be safe. It's been three weeks now?"

"That's correct." Venus replied, squeezing Luciano's hand as she boy clenched her hand in a tight grip.

"Well, my professional opinions says leave the cast on for the next three weeks to be one hundred percent sure, but my personal opinion says to leave it on for one more week and we'll take it off, but no heavy lifting or _too_ strenuous of an activity for the two weeks following so that we can be sure that nothing will happen to possibly make the fracture worse." The doctor suggested. "Now, these stitches, which have been kept very clean by the way, may need to stay in for a few more days just to be sure, I'd say Tuesday? If not Tuesday, then Wednesday."

"One of his relatives is going to medical school or something like that." Venus muttered. "Thanks for the input. Can I have that file back?"

"Of course." The doctor replied with a kind smile as he handed it back. "May I ask where his mother is?"

"In a coma on the third floor." Venus deadpanned.

"Oh my, I'm very sorry." The doctor mumbled humbly.

"That's where we're headed now, if that's alright with you?" Venus said, hoisting Luciano up on her hip after she put the file back into her purse.

"Of course!" The doctor said, standing up and opening the door for her.

"Just send a bill to the house for the consultation." Venus mumbled before leaving the room and heading to the elevators.

"We're going to see Mamma now?" Luciano whispered, wrapping his good arm around Venus as they waited for the elevator.

"Yeah, we are." Venus said softly. "Auntie Silver said Ash moved her hand yesterday."

"Really?" Luciano cried as the elevator doors opened, showing it was empty inside.

"Yes," Venus said softly as she stepped into the elevator.

"CAN I PUSH THE BUTTON?" Luciano cried excitedly.

Venus laughed softly, "Go for it. Floor three." She leaned down a bit for Luciano to reach the buttons and grinned as the boy pushed the button for the third floor about ten times. "Okay, I think it knows where we're going now." She said as the doors slid closed.

Minutes later, they were stepping out of the elevator, well, Venus was, seeing as she was still carrying Luciano, and she made her way down the familiar halls looking for the room number the woman downstairs had given her. Upon finding said room, Venus hesitated outside the door. Luciano hugged her as well as he could and gave her a small smile.

"It'll be ok," He told her.

Venus gave the boy a weak smile before opening the door and stepped inside before she could change her mind. Seeing Ashlynn lying there on the hospital bed, almost as pale as the sheets, even more than normal, made Venus stop just inside the room, letting the door swing closed behind her. The tubes and wires attached to her best friend made it hard for her to breathe as she let Luciano wiggle out of her arms. She watched the boy approach the bed apprehensively and decided that if he could do it, then she could too. Slowly, Venus walked up behind Luciano and sat in one of he chairs near the bed and watched as Luc rested his good hand on Ashlynn's.

"Should I talk to her?" He asked, looking back at Venus sadly, tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, kiddo. Talk to her." She whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder, her voice might break.

Venus listened to Luciano speak to Ashlynn, unaware of the time passing. She was just hoping that her best friend would wake up. She needed her best friend to wake up. It wouldn't be the same without her. She was startled out of her thoughts by Luciano tugging on her shirt.

"Mamma moved her hand!" He cried. "I felt it!"

"That's great kiddo!" Venus said, trying to sound excited for the boy.

"Just like I told your friend, it's just a reaction from her body." Came a voice from the door.

Venus turned and gave the doctor in the doorway her patented death glare of almost instant doom. She recognized him, he was Xander's doctor when he'd been in the hospital on life support. "Oh great, it's you."

"How nice to see you again, Ms. Russo." The doctor said with an unfeeling smile.

"Keep telling yourself that." Venus deadpanned.

"I don't see why you haven't pulled the plug on her." The doctor, Ashton Krass if Venus remembered correctly, stated emotionlessly as he stared at the limp form on the bed.

"I'd thank you to not talk like that in front of her son." Venus hissed venomously. "Besides, she's breathing on her own, and she's improved quite a bit."

"Doesn't mean she's going to wake up." Krass said smugly. "Your brother didn't."

Venus growled as she heard Luciano sniffle. "You know what? There's no need for you to be a cynical bastard. Just because my brother didn't wake up doesn't mean his mother won't!" She snapped as she flew to her feet. "And for your information, she has family that cares about her, she has people that are waiting for her to wake up. My brother didn't wake up because I told him it would be ok for him to pass on. I know you don't believe that has anything to do with it, but you're also a dickfaced asshole, so your opinion doesn't matter. If you can't be slightly optimistic that she'll wake up, then I'll request someone else to be her doctor." She yelled before turning to Luciano and picking the boy up. "C'mon kiddo, let's leave before I do something I _really_ regret."

Venus stormed passed the doctor and down the hall towards the elevator, only to run into the one nurse she hated the most. "This was _so_ a bad day to come to the hospital." She muttered under her breath.

"Could you watch where you're going?" The nurse, Keri Keller, hissed in annoyance.

"Why don't you!" Venus snapped, shoving passed the woman and into the elevator that had opened and let people out.

"Mamma's going to wake up, right?" Luciano whimpered as Venus put him in his booster seat.

"I think she'll wake up." Venus informed him as she buckled him in before getting into the front seat. "That doctor doesn't know what he's talking about. He's just a jerk. Don't let anything he says make you sad, alright?"

"Okay." Luciano said softly.

The ride back to the house was quiet, not even the radio was on, and Venus was sure that she heard Luciano sniffling more as they pulled up the driveway. When Venus opened his door, Luciano slid solemnly from the car and walked into the house in a dejected manner that made Venus want to race back to the hospital and bash the doctor's face in for making Luciano act this way. Upon entering the house, Venus was subjected to curious looks from the team as they watched Luciano disappear up into Ashlynn's room, shutting the door behind him.

"I'm going to kill the fucking doctor." Venus seethed, walking into the kitchen. "I'm going to make it very painful. Castrate him with a rusty spoon first," She mumbled to herself as she moved around the kitchen, grabbing food from the fridge.

"Do we want to know what happened?" Jesse asked from where he sat on the couch closest to the kitchen.

They all watched as Venus stopped moving and stood bracing herself against the counter, clenching and unclenching her fists. "The doctor that's in charge of Ashlynn is an asshole. I should have realized which doctor it was when Silver told me that he had told her it was just a reaction Ash's body was having."

"What are you talking about, Baby V?" Leon asked, he'd picked up on the nickname immediately over the last few days.

"Ash's doctor is the one that was mine and Xander's doctor." Venus said softly, just loud enough for them to hear her. "He's very cynical and shouldn't be a doctor, in my opinion. Luc was talking to Ash and he got all excited because Ash's hand moved and the doctor had shown up at some point and started mouthing off about how it was just the body moving, not actually Ash and was all 'I don't understand why you haven't pulled the plug on her yet.' And bringing up the fact that Xander didn't wake up. Basically saying that Ashlynn wasn't going to wake up. Upset Luciano and I just want to fucking kill that damn doctor! UGH!"

As she moved around the kitchen again, warming up some of the leftovers from the night before, Venus could hear the team talking, but she didn't really care enough to pay attention. She was thinking up ways to kill the doctor and get rid of the body so that she wouldn't get caught. As she sat at the island table, stabbing angrily at the food as she ate it, she didn't notice Dom come up beside her until he spoke.

"So, I think we should work on the car when you're finished mutilating your food." He said as he watched her.

Venus' eyes flicked up to her, glinting dangerously. "Why?"

"Do something productive with that anger."

"I am doing something productive with it." She informed him.

"Oh really?" He drawled back sarcastically.

"Oh yes."

"And what's that?"

"Thinking up ways to dispose of that damn doctor and not get caught."

Dom looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Right, we're working on the car."

Venus grumbled, but didn't argue and when she was finished, she washed her plate before following Dom out to the guesthouse garage. "Why can't I just keep plotting the damn doctor's demise?"

"Because that's a bad outlet. Working on the car will give you something positive to do." Dom informed her as he pushed the button he recalled Venus pushing when he'd forced her to show him the car for the first time. Venus grumbled again, but followed Dom into the garage. For the rest of the afternoon, the two of them worked on the car, fixing the body once more before taking a look at the parts Venus had bought to rebuild the engine.

They only stopped working on the car for dinner and after dinner, they went back to the garage to continue working. Venus felt a little better, having seen that Luciano was in a better mood at dinner, but she was still pissed. They worked on the car well into the night and when they finally called it quits it was nearing midnight. The two made their way inside and to their own rooms, showering before going to sleep, only to wake up mid-morning and work on the car all day. Venus and Dom joked around like they'd known each other their entire lives and that just cemented Venus' belief that Dom and Xander would have gotten along great.

Monday morning rolled around sooner than Venus had anticipated and at seven in the morning, Luciano was jumping on her bed trying to wake her up. Letty stood in the doorway laughing softly as she watched the scene before her unfold. Venus sprang up and grabbed Luciano and proceeded to tickle the boy until he begged to be let go.

"Mmm, go get dressed brat." Venus mumbled, still half asleep.

"Okay Auntie Venus! Don't go back to sleep!" Luciano cried as he ran out of the room.

"If you're not downstairs in a half hour, I'll send Dom up to get you." Letty told her with a grin.

"And people say I'm evil." Venus muttered, flopping back down on her bed. Twenty minutes later, Venus rolled herself out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes and disappeared into her bathroom. Ten minutes later, she was walking out of her bathroom in a pair of shorts and a tank top, her hair had been thrown up into a ponytail and eyeliner smudged around her eyes. She shuffled out of her rooms, Vans and a pair of socks in hand, and made her way sluggishly downstairs.

"I was about to send Dom up." Letty said, chuckling softly.

"Nyeh, don't talk to me. Need coffee." Venus mumbled, dropping her socks and shoes by the couch as she walked into the kitchen, patting Jericho and Myka on the head as she passed.

Venus spotted Dom in the kitchen and stalked passed him to the cupboard and grabbed a large coffee cup that Ashlynn had made for her in high school ceramics. It was meant to be a joke, but Venus used it quite often, seeing as it held almost a half of a pot of coffee in it. She grabbed the creamer and poured a generous amount into the cup before pouring coffee into said cup. Drinking a fourth of the contents of the cup, Venus shuffled to the fridge and grabbed a couple eggs and a package of mushrooms and the block of cheese. Setting everything on the counter near the stove, Venus then grabbed a frying pan and a spatula before grabbing a couple bowls and the cheese grater.

After grating some of the cheese into one of the bowls, Venus cracked a couple eggs and mixed them in the other bowl and turned the frying pan on as she sliced up the mushrooms. From there, she proceeded to make cheese and mushroom omelettes for everyone; somehow managing not to burn the food or herself in her sleepy haze. By eight forty-five, everyone had eaten and the dishes were washed and Venus was now more awake, but wasn't very happy about it. She pulled on her socks and shoes before walking out to the garage with Luciano and as soon as they were situated, they were off.

By nine o'clock, they were pulling into the parking lot of the preschool and Venus' mood hadn't changed much. Parking her car and cutting the engine, Venus got out and helped Luciano get out of the car, trying to ignore the looks and whispers of the other parents around her as they walked towards the building. Unfortunately for the other parents, Venus' temper was shot.

"She's a little young to be a mother, don't you think?" One of the woman whispered to two ladies next to her.

"And those scars, where do you suppose she got those from?" Another mother said.

"Just look at her car," A man spoke. "She's probably one of those illegal racers."

"What do you think happened to her son?" Another woman said softly.

""You don't suppose she did that to him, do you?" The first woman asked.

"I CAN FUCKING HEAR YOU, YOU KNOW?" She snapped, ignoring how the parents were covering their children's ears. "I'M NOT DEAF! IF YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING TALK ABOUT SOMEONE IN FRONT OF THEM, DO IT SO THEY CAN'T FREAKING HEAR YOU!" She growled and crossed her arms. "He's my Godson! I didn't hurt him, I would never hurt a kid! If you want to continue on with your idiotic theories, then do it when I can't freaking hear you, you assholes!" She snapped.

"Do you always talk like that around him?" One of the mothers asked.

"Not that it's any of your damned business, but NO I DON'T!" Venus snapped, glaring angrily from behind her sunglasses.

Luciano was giggling next to her, drawing in the other parents' attention. Why did he think this was funny, did he think that was ok? "That's not my Mamma, she's my Auntie Venus, and she's just cranky."

Venus turned her glare on the little boy at her side. "You're such a brat, kiddo." She mumbled with a sigh. "Go on, Dom or Jesse will pick you up later. Maybe Letty if she's feeling well enough."

Luciano grinned at Venus and hugged her waist tightly before he ran into the building with the other kids. Venus watched him enter the building and then wandered back to her car. She needed Starbucks. Now. Otherwise she was going to rip Scott's head off during her therapy session.

Her session was almost over and she still wasn't able to rotate her leg in a circle while laying down. Venus didn't understand. She could do the stupid movement when standing up, but not when laying down. What. The. Hell.

"Alright, one more try and we're done." Scott told her.

"I don't see what one more rota-" Venus was cut off by a loud POP. That pop being her hip popping at she tried the rotation. "FUCK! That hurt!"

"At least you did the rotation?" Scott asked as he helped her stand.

"Oh, you're an ass." Venus muttered as she took a moment to gain her equilibrium before gathering her things.

"And you're a bitch," Scott shot back, not at all bothered by her scathing tone. "Just something we'll have to live with."

"Yeah, yeah." Venus muttered as she walked to the doors. "I'm going home and I'm going to sleep. Maybe."

"Have fun!" Scott called cheerfully after her, resulting in her flipping him off as she walked out the door.

Upon entering the house, Venus stalked upstairs, ignoring the team, and disappeared into her room. She came out twenty minutes later in a bikini with a towel wrapped around her and a bottle of tanning lotion in one hand.

"One of you is picking Luciano up, I put a piece of paper with the directions on it on the table in the entryway. He gets out at two." She stated before turning her back on the group and walking towards the backyard. "If you need me, I'm outside."

As Venus laid out in the sun with the dogs basking next to her, Luciano was making friends with some of the other kids in his class. And when it came time for everyone to go home, Luciano found that he didn't want to, he liked being around people his age, it was fun! And he didn't have to try very hard to understand what was going on around him. Soon, Luciano was the only child left waiting to be picked up.

"Is there anyone I can call?" His teacher asked him, her voice soft.

"No, someone will be here soon." Luciano replied, a smile on his face.

"Can I asked you something?" His teacher asked.

"I guess."

"If the… Lady that dropped you off is your aunt, then where is your mother?"

The smile on Luciano's face disappeared and he looked down at the floor sadly. "Mommy is in the hospital. Bad people shot her."

The teacher's eyes went wide, contemplating as to whether she should call CPS or not when the sound of a rumbling engine broke into her train of thoughts. "I'm sorry," She muttered softly to Luciano.

Luciano looked up as the car pulled into the parking lot, a sad smile on his face. "He drove Mommy's car." He said as he watched Dom get out of the driver's seat after cutting the engine.

"Hey, what's wrong, little man?" Came Letty's voice from the passanger side door.

Dom walked up to Luciano and the teacher, looking between the two with a relaxed smile on his face. "What happened?"

The teacher stared at him for a moment before speaking. "Well, we were slightly… appalled by his… Aunt's behavior when she dropped him off this morning and I asked him where his mother was at. He informed me that she's in the hospital because bad people shot her. I have half a mind to call CPS because of all of this."

Luciano watched in confusion as Dom's face went stony and blank. Before Letty could say anything, Dom started speaking. "I can't apologize on Venus' behalf, because, whatever she did, I'm sure she's not sorry for it. She's not a morning person and I'm sure she was probably a bit cranky. But I assure you, the kid is safe with us. The police in charge of the investigation of my cousin's attack wouldn't have left him in Venus' care if she wasn't safe for him to be around." He informed the woman stand before him. Dom picked Luciano up and turned back towards the car. After getting Luciano situated in his booster seat in the back, Dom turned his attention back to the teacher, who was standing there dumbstruck. "We'll look for another preschool if you're so worried."

And with that, he got in the car and waited until Letty was situated again before taking off.


	22. Chapter 22

Here it is! Everyone has been waiting for it and it's finally here! Chapter 22. So, I hope you enjoy it. You might go wtf, but I hope it is still enjoyable! Tell me what you think, I want to know what my readers think of my story!

**Disclaimer: Same as before, nothing has changed.**

Fast and the Furious 22

Luciano was confused as he sat in the back seat as Dom drove. He didn't understand what his teacher had meant, but it was obvious that it had upset the two adults. "What did she mean?" He asked softly, looking from Dom to Letty.

Dom glanced at Luciano in the rearview mirror and then over to Letty as she shifted in her seat slightly to look at the young boy. "She meant that she was going to call the police and have people come take you away if they didn't think that you were being well taken care of."

"Taken away? But why? What would happen to me?" Luciano asked, he was beginning to get upset.

"Because they don't think that we are doing a good job taking care of you. And you'd most likely get put in a foster family." Letty explained.

"But I have a family!" Luciano cried, tears welling up in his wide eyes.

"We know. And we're not going to let anyone take you away from us." Dom interjected. "Family protects family, remember that."

Luciano nodded even as a few tears fell from his eyes. "I will."

"How about some ice cream?" Letty asked, hoping it would get the boy to cheer up.

"Yes please!" He cried excitedly. Well, that definitely worked.

"Alright." Dom chuckled and turned into the shopping center parking lot.

The week slowly passed, every morning that Venus had physical therapy, she'd drop Luciano off at preschool and one of the team would pick him up, on the days that she didn't have her therapy, one of the team would drop him off and another would pick him up. Luciano had gotten his stitches removed on Tuesday as planned and was to get his cast removed within the next couple of days. Dom and Venus had gotten a lot done on the Mustang, but there was still a lot more work to be done, they didn't mind though. Venus had also gotten a couple of clients for the team, so that they'd have something to do rather than sit around all day.

Vince had slowly improved, he was able to walk and stand for short periods of time and he was able to properly hold things in his right hand for equally short amounts of time. He was still grumpy as always, but with being able to move on his own, he was just a minute bit less grumpy. While the team worked on the cars, he mostly got the tools they needed and gave his input on how they shuld go about fixing whatever they were working on. And while that's all he could do for now, Vince wasn't sure what he was going to do once the stitches were out. He know that there was physical therapy lined up for him, but after that, he knew he'd have to get out of town so he wouldn't bring trouble for Ash and her friends.

Mia worked mostly around the house, keeping as up to date as she could on her school work. School. She was going to have to go back soon. The school has bee understanding that she needed to be there for her family during their time of hardship, but there was only so much school she could miss before they would drop her. She was hoping that Ashlynn would wake up before she had to go, but whether that happened or not, she was going back down to Los Angeles by Sunday for classes on Monday.

Leon wasn't sure what he was going to do. For as long as he could remember, it was him and Jesse, but now, Jesse had Ashlynn. If she ever woke up, which he prayed she did. But even still, growing up, they'd been good friends, living on the same block. They hung out a lot, talking about anything from cars to fucked up families. And then when Leon decided he was going to leave, he told Jesse and Jesse decided to go with him. Nothing better to do anyways, his dad was in prison, mother was who knows where half the time. And even with the team, Jesse and him were still tight, like brothers, and now, Leon wasn't sure what to do, because it seemed that Jesse didn't need him much anymore. But maybe he'd stay close, get an apartment in town so that he could hang out with Jesse and visit Luc and Ash. Sounded like a good plan to him.

Jesse knew exactly what he was doing. He was going to stay here with Ash and Luciano. He didn't care how long it took for her to wake up, because he just _knew_ that she would wake up, he wasn't leaving. If what Mia had told them about the short, quiet girl, Silver, was true, then she was going to be leaving. Jesse wasn't sure what that was going to do to Ashlynn, but he was going to be there for her anyway.

Dom didn't know how much longer he'd be safe here. He was itching to get away, but he just coudn't leave until he knew that Ashlynn was going to be fine. And that meant that she had to wake up. But he knew that cops were going to come for him eventually, and it would be best if he wasn't here when the cops started searching. He couldn't put Ash, Luciano and Venus at risk like that. He was going to have to leave soon, no matter how much he'd like to stay.

Letty didn't care what happened, so long as Ashlynn woke up. She knew that Dom was going to hightail it out of there soon. He had to. Cops would be looking for him soon. She'd follow him wherever he went, just like she always had. Besides, he still owed her a vacation.

Luciano was happy. He was making friends and impressing them too. As well as his teacher. They were surprised that he could speak fluently in more than just English and that he could almost write perfect cursive. Luciano liked that his new friends thought it was cool that he could do these things. He also liked that for a little bit, he could forget that his mother was unconscious in a hospital bed.

Venus was her usual self, unpredictable. Other than going to physical therapy, she continued giving riding lessons to groups of kids of all ages. When she got particularly frustrated, she found herself being carted outside to work on her brother's car. And when that didn't work, he'd have her sit down a sketch. Which she grudgingly did. A couple times throughout the week, she'd gotten calls from Johnny, which had had her grinning like a fool when they hung up. The doctors were taking their time with whatever tests they were putting him through, but they seemed to be running out of tests, so he should be released soon.

Silver stayed mostly out of the way, only mingling with the team during meals, and taught he art classes. Though, those classes seemed to be becoming fewer and fewer. She'd started discretely packing; little things that didn't really have a purpose were put away and she'd begun working on the clothes she hardly ever wore. When she wasn't teaching or packing, Silver was visiting Ashlynn, hoping that the girl would wake up. That was where she was currently at, sitting in Ashlynn's hospital room, talking to the girl in hopes that it would help her wake up.

While Silver was at the hospital, Leon was picking Luciano up from preschool, Mia was packing her bag, Dom, Letty, Vince, and Jesse were doing some work on a couple cars, and Venus was preparing for riding lessons. Sandra, Jawn, Allen, and Jenny were going to be at the house by three, which would be soon, just as Luciano would be getting home. Mia, once finished packing up most of her bag, made snacks for the kids as a way to keep busy since she didn't have a dinner to plan tonight; Venus had informed Mia that she was craving pizza, so that's what they were having for dinner.

Lessons went well, as they usually did. Allen's dad had the night off, so he'd stayed to watch and when the lesson came to an end, they'd taken off to go out to dinner with the boy's mom; family dinner night. Both of Jawn's parents had shown up to the lesson, which was great for him, because though his parents were divorced, they could get along well enough. They'd gone out to dinner as well, or so they told Venus. Sandra's mom stayed to watch for a while, until she really had to leave, otherwise she'd be late to work. The heterochromatic girl's father picked her up late and had been given some of the left over pizza. Jenny was once again the last one there, but it didn't bother Venus or the others. It was right after they'd begun eating that something odd happened.

Pizza boxes were spread out on the island counter in the kitchen, plates in hand waiting to be used. Venus caved and grabbed the first slice, she was hungry damn it. Grace was said in a mumbled jumble of words and everyone grabbed what they wanted. Venus situated Jenny, Sandra and Luciano at the kitchen table as she munched away on her vegetarian pizza. Yum. Just as she was scarfing down a second piece, the doorbell rang. Leon answered the door, only to tell Venus, in a slightly confused tone, that some teenage boy was looking for Ashlynn. Venus had walked to the door wondering who it was that would be looking for Ashlynn, as far as she knew, she'd informed everyone that Ash was in the hospital due to an accident.

"Tor?" Venus queried softly as she saw the boy standing outside the front door. The young man didn't say or do anything, his gaze focused on the ground in front of him. "Torben, what are you doing here?" Still the young man didn't move. "Torben Damaris, answer me."

"I know this probably isn't the best time," He whispered, still staring at the ground. "But I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"What happened Tor?" Venus asked, aware that everyone else behind her was getting very curious. The young man finally raised his head, exposing his face to the light from the entryway. His left eye was swelling, his nose was bleeding, and his bottom lip seemed to be split in at least two places, she was sure that his lip piercing was messed up. He seemed to be favoring his right leg and his arms were protectively wrapped around his torso. "Shit," Venus swore under her breath as she stepped to the side. "C'mon, get inside."

"Thanks," The sandy blonde haired boy whispered as he limped into the house.

"Don't thank me yet, we've got to get you cleaned up, and it's gonna hurt." She told him as she shut the door behind him. "Mia, could you help me here?" Venus called as she led the tall teenager to the bathroom. "You're telling me what happened."

"So long as you tell me where Ashlynn is." Torben replied.

"She's in the hospital, I left a message on your phone days ago." Venus told him as they entered the bathroom, Mia not too far behind.

"Haven't had my phone for a couple weeks, _dad_ decided to break it." Torben seethed softly as he lowered himself to sit on the edge of the tub.

"Dad's responsible for all this too then?" Venus asked bluntly.

"Got it in one." Torben murmured, blinking his eyes, well his right eye, seeing as the left one was nearly swollen shut.

"He drunk this time?" Venus asked, watching as Mia pulled items from the first aid kit and began working on cleaning the young man.

"Isn't he always?" Torben asked sardonically.

Venus humed softly, watching as the man flinched under Mia's careful minstrations. She clenched her fists as she saw the bruises that littered the boy's torso when Mia asked him to remove his shirt so she could wrap his ribs, which Venus figured were cracked at the least. How someone could do this to their own kid, Venus couldn't understand. When Mia was finished wrapping the boy up, Venus told her she could go and that she could trust Venus to take care of everything else.

"So, what happened this time?" Venus asked, watching Torben stand up difficultly, having denied her help.

"He, uh, he found out about my sexuality." Torben murmured. "He didn't take too kindly to it, as you can see. I think he scared off my boyfriend. And Ashlynn told me that if I needed to, to come here."

"Mmm," Venus hummed noncommitally. "Let's get you some clean clothes. You're about Ashlynn's height.. I'll find some of the guy's clothes I know she's got. Then we'll get you an ice pack for your eye and you can have something to eat and drink." Torben just nodded. He watched as Venus left the room and waited until she returned with a pair of men's pajama pants and a racerback tank top. "I can get you something a little more girly from her wardrobe if you'd like." She teased gently, gaining a small smile from him.

"This is fine, thank you." He informed her as she walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind herself. Venus was waiting for him when Torben walked out of the bathroom. She took his dirty clothes and put them in the laundry room before leading the young man into the kitchen, ignoring everyone's curious looks as she got an ice pack from the freezer. "Thanks," He whispered, accepting the ice pack and gently pressing it to his eye.

"Sit," Venus ordered, pointing to the table where the three children were currently sitting.

"Yes ma'am," Torben shot back at her as he sat down next to Luciano. "Hey kiddo."

"Hi Torben! What happened?" Luciano cried as he saw the ice pack Torben was holding to his face. The little boy's voice dropped to a whisper, his tone sad, "Was it your daddy again?"

Torben gave Luciano a sad smile, "Yeah, kiddo."

"He's not very nice," Luciano mumbled as Venus sat a plat of pizza down in front of Torben before disappearing to get a Dr. Pepper for the injured young man.

"No, that he's not," Torben agreed. "Thanks Venus," He murmured when the pixie-esque girl sat a glass of Dr. Pepper in front of him.

"No problem." She told him as she munched on her third slice of pizza.

"What about your guests?" Torben asked, nodding to the group of people in the living room before eating some of the pizza before him.

"That's Ash's family," Venus said softly. "They're curious as to what's going on, but they shouldn't bother you."

"Ashlynn has family?"

"Indeed."

"Well, you learn something new every day."

"Guess so." Venus said with a shrug.

"You might want to explain what's going on."

"Probably."

Torben rolled his eyes, but chuckled softly. "You never change."

"I would hope not, I like being me." Venus grinned before walking out into the living room where she found herself being stared at by everyone. "Yes?"

"Gonna introduce us to your friend, Baby V?" Dom asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"He's one of Ash's students," Venus said with a shrug.

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"Not exactly my story to tell. Let's just stick with his home life sucks and Ash offered him the guest house as refuge if he ever needed it."

"Only until I get enough money for a couple months rent at an apartment complex." Torben piped up from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Ashlynn would have you live here," Venus muttered, leaning on her right leg, jutting her left hip out as she crossed her arms.

"She would," Torben conceded, absently biting at his lips ring, only to hiss softly as it caused him pain. "But I won't."

Venus snorted in amusement. "You practically live here anyway."

"That's true," Torben said with a small smile. He turned his attention to the strangers sitting on the sectional. "Sorry, we're being a bit rude, aren't we? I'm Torben Damaris, high school drama student, I come to Ashlynn for choreography."

"Dominic Toretto, I'm Ashlynn's cousin." Dom introduced, saluting the teen with his beer bottle. "Mia's my sister."

"I appreciate the doctoring, Mia." Torben said politely.

"It's no problem."

"The one that answered the door," Venus said, gesturing to Leon. "That's Leon."

Jesse raised a hand, "I'm Jesse."

"Ash's boyfriend," Venus interjected with a grin.

"Was wondering when she'd find someone." Torben said, returning Venus' grin.

"The grumpy gimp that's stuffing his face over there is Vince." Venus said, pointing to the scruffy man. "He's relatively harmless. I think."

"Alright." Torben chuckled.

"And I'm Letty," The Latina introduced from where she sat, cuddled up to Dom's side.

"She's a little gimpy too." Venus threw in.

"And does that have anything to do with why Luc's got a gnarly scar and cast? He said he got stitches removed Wednesday." Torben asked, glancing between Venus and everyone he'd been introduced to. "And where's Silver?"

"Uh, it's got a bit to do with what happened to Luc and Silver is probably still at the hospital, visiting Ash." Venus replied.

"You're being a bit vague," Torben accussed, narowing his right eye at Venus. "You're never vague, you're always blunt as hell."

Venus just flipped him off as the doorbell rang. "I got it!" She cried, running off to the door.

"Drama, huh?" Vince piped up, taking in Torben's lanky, but lean, slightly muscled form.

"Hm? Oh, yes, drama." Torben confirmed. "And I'm exploring my sexuality, since you're going to eventually ask."

Dom chuckled and Letty grinned. "And you say that Baby V is blunt." Dom muttered.

"Gotta pick it up somewhere, don't I?" Torben said with a shrug before grabbing another slice of pizza off the counter behind him as Venus walked back in.

"Sandra, your dad's here!" She called into the kitchen.

"Coming Miss V!" The girl called back as Venus walked into the kitchen.

"Here, take this with you, for your dad." Venus said, throwing in a few pieces of all of the pizzas that had been ordered.

"Thanks Miss V!" Sandra said with a smile as she took the box and walked through the living room and out the front door. "See you on Wednesday!"

"Bye Sandra!" Luciano cried from the kitchen.

"Bye Luc!" She called back before closing the door behind her.

"So, what did Baby V mean when she said you practically live here?" Leon asked as he grabbed his beer.

"Well, my home life sucks. I spend as much time away from home as possible. About two and a half years ago, I was contemplating ending everything when I met Ashlynn. She saw the cuts and bruises, brought me here and cleaned me up. I thought she was a little crazy, honestly, bringing a complete stranger home with her. Then I met Venus and realized it had to be hard to be sane around her. Anyways, Ash didn't ask any questions, just patched me up and offered me a place to stay if I didn't feel well enough to go home. Couple weeks later, I was still wondering why someone would do what she did, and I ran into her again, only this time, dad was there. She put two and two together faster than any of the people I used to consider my friends, but she didn't call him out on it. Which was smart on her part, 'cause dad doesn't care if we're in public, he'd have 'made an example of me' anyway." Torben explained. "Though, dad had noticed that she was staring at us and asked me if I knew her. I said that she had just graduated from high school and that she'd been the one to patch me up the couple weeks before. I had told him that she thought a couple of punks had attacked me, and she probably did, but if dad realized that she knew he abused me, it would have been very bad for me. And probably her too.

"Dad approached her, thanked her for patching me up, being all suave about it and shit. Actually started hitting on her. She told him that she already had a kid to take care of and that she didn't need another one to look after. He thought she was talking about me, but then she gave me her number and told me that she was going to start this sort of study group. Said to call if I decided I wanted to give it a try and then she left. Dad was very annoyed, asking 'What's she talking about study group, it's summer' and shit like that. I told him I didn't know, that maybe it was to prepare students for the next year of school. He seemed to buy it, but just in case he didn't, I had waited until school actually started to call her and see what she was talking about. She told me it was a dance class, that she'd gotten certified or accredited while she was still attending high school or something and that if I was ever looking for an outlet for what was happening to me, I was welome to join." Torben shrugged. "So from that point on, I'd come here everyday after school, stay until after everyone else had left, sometimes Ashlynn would insist that I stay the night and I would, just so she wouldn't worry. Well, that was after Venus over here threatened to tieme up just to ensure that I couldn't go home.

"Then halfway through junior year, I got a job, doesn't pay all that much, but pretty soon I should be able to afford an apartment. But, I'd go to work after school, come here after my shift, get my homework done, get some practice in, and then maybe go home. Ash, Venus, and Silver, they're always looking out for me, like the big sisters I never got to meet." He concluded.

"Never got to meet?" Letty asked, watching as Torben gave a sardonic smile.

"Mmm, more like, they never wanted anything to do with me after they were able to get out of dad's house. I don't even know where they're at, but that's their problem I suppose." Torben replied with a shrug. "I knew them until they were eighteen, the last one left four years ago, then I got the full brunt of dad's abusive ways. And now, he knows that I'm exploring m sexuality and he doesn't want me in his home, so here I am. And he'll probably go to a bar, find some woman to lure into his web, ensnare the poor girl, and then treat her just as nicely as he treated me and my sisters."

"We've offered to take your dad to court, you know?" Silver's voice came from the entryway doorway, none of them had heard her come in. "We've got enough photographic evidence, all time stamped."

"Hey Silver," Torben greeted. "Yeah, but who's to say he'll actually get convicted? Got a lot of crooked judges and fucked up people in the world."

"You're quite the pessimist, aren't you?" Letty piped up.

"Side effect of hanging around these ladies," Torben joked.

"Ha ha, you're so funny," Venus deadpanned before turning to Silver. "There's pizza in the kitchen."

"Alright." Silver said softly with a nod, walking towards the kitchen, stopping long enough to give Torben a gentle hug before disappearing from sight. "Jenny, your mom pulled in behind me."

"Okay Miss Silver." They heard Jenny say softly before the girl emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later.

"There's a box of pizza on the counter for your mom Jenny," Venus told her before she could get too far.

"Okay," The girl said softly, turning back to the kitchen and grabbing the box before hurrying to the front door, where she grabbed her stuff and bid everyone goodbye.

When everyone was finished eating, dishes were rinsed and put in the dishwasher, more drinks were grabbed and everyone was relaxing, Silver decided to tell them what had transpired at the hospital.

"Ashlynn moved again." She spoke softly, gaining everyone's attention. There was a chorus of _really?_ and she nodded. "I was talking to her and she lifted her hand a few inches off the bed. It looked like her eyes were trying to open, but they didn't."

"So, do I get to know what happened?" Torben asked, glancing at everyone. "Because, Ashlynn is in the hospital, and it has something to do with grumpy's injuries, Luciano's cast, and her fading bruises. So what the hell went down?"

"Uhm, well, I'll try and keep this short," Venus began. "We went down to LA to visit with a friend of Ash's and her family. Ash's friend we were staying with was taken by SWAT, that's what happened to Luciano, an officer yanked him away from Ash's friend, dislocated Luc's shoulder, hairline fracture, and the cut on his forehead. Next day, we went to Race Wars, ran into Marcos, these guys," She pointed to Dom, Letty, Vince, and Leon. "Took off to hijack a big rig because they were being blackmailed," She rolled her eyes and Torben realized that was their cover. "It went bad, the driver had probably been paid off, Vince got twisted up in the wire and got shot, as you can see, Letty's car flipped. Me and Ash were following Brian, he was an undercover cop, and Mia and we caught up to them as the rig driver shot Dom's engine. Brian, the crazy ass, jumped from his car to the rig, saved Vince's ass, jumped back, outed himself as a cop. Vince was taken away to the hospital in a helicopter, Leon and Letty came here, the rest of us went back to their house," A gesture towards the others. "Jesse showed up, he'd taken off because he lost at Race Wars and didn't know what he was doing. Mia and I walked outside, Ashlynn was hugging Jesse and then we heard the motorcycles." Venus paused as she saw it happening all over again.

"Ash took two bullets to save me," Jesse spoke softly. "The doc said one ruptured her appendix, toxins were spreading through her blood stream, the second bullet, she was lucky he said. It got lodged in one of her ribs. Doc was surprised that it didn't break the rib and cause the rib to punture her lung. Dom and Brian took off after Tran and his cousin, I don't know what happened after that, seeing as I stayed with Mia and Ash and went to the hospital. Ash had been in a coma since."

"Lance is in police custody, the family knows that he shot Ash, I told them," Venus said softly. "None of them will help him, I don't think. Johnny's going to be released from the hospital in the next few days. They've apparently run out of tests to put him through."

"Who are those people?" Torben asked, trying to absorb everything.

"Johnny Tran was a friend of ours before Ash and her parents moved." Dom informed him. "Lance is his cousin."

"Johnny is the friend that was taken by SWAT and Lance is the one that shot Ash." Venus said softly. "Lance was in league with Marcos. And they're both in police custody."

"Never liked Marcos. He was always such a dick." Torben muttered.

"Not to Ashlynn." Silver quipped.

"That's true." Torben conceded. "So, how long has Ashlynn been in this coma?"

"Uhm... About three weeks, I think," Venus muttered. "The days have kind of melded together."

"I see." Torben murmured. "Well, there's a practice for drama tomorrow, so I shall be off to bed."

"Well, you know where the guesthouse is and you know where to find me," Venus said, giving the teen a hug. "See you in the morning. You're going to eat."

Torben smiled. "Yes mom."

Venus crossed her arms and mock scowled, "Jerk." Everyone laughed at her. "You're all jerks." She pouted.

"Night all," Torben said, smile still on his face as he left the room. They heard the door open and close moments later.

"Bedtime Luc." Venus announced.

"Awe! But I'm not tired." Luciano protested.

"Nope, time for bed. We're going to the hospital tomorrow and see about getting the cast off." Venus countered.

"But-"

"C'mon kiddo," Jesse murmured. "Sleep now, tomorrow comes sooner."

Luciano pouted, "Okay." Jesse took Luciano upstairs and soon after, everyone else made their way to bed as well.

The next morning, Torben was in the kitchen making breakfast with Venus; omelettes and multiple types of muffins, pumpkin, apple cinnamon, blueberry, and banana nut. Torben was whipping up some eggs in a bowl when Leon walked in, still sleepy eyed.

"Yummy," Torben muttered under his breath as he took in the man's disheveled appearence.

Venus snorted and giggled softly. "Good luck with that. Far as I can tell, he's a ladies man."

"So it'll be a bit of a challenge."

"Like I said, good luck."

Torben grinned as well as he could as Venus took the bowl of whipped eggs from him. "You always chew on toothpicks?" He asked Leon, leaning against the island counter across from the older man.

"Huh?" Leon asked, not quite comprehending the question in his still sleepy haze.

"Toothpick, sweetcheeks." Torben repeated.

"Oh, yeah, habit I can't seem to kick."

"I see." Torben murmured.

"Let him wake up some before youstart hitting on him," Venus called over her shoulder.

"Fine, spoil my fun," Torben pouted, his hazel and grey eyes flashing in the light.

"Who's spoiling fun?" Dom asked as he and Letty entered the kitchen with Vince.

"Venus is spoiling my fun." Torben whined.

"Ususally we have to make sure she isn't having too much fun." Dom joked.

"Ha ha ha, hilarious." Venus griped. "Better be nice, I'm the one making breakfast."

"I'm always nice Baby V." Dom insisted.

"Sure you are." Venus mumbled under her breath.

"Where did that nickname come from?" Torben asked.

"Well, we usually call Vince V, and Ash and Silver call Venus V, so to keep from getting confused, Dom gave her the nickname." Letty explained.

"Ah, I see. Makes sense." The teen muttered as Mia, Jesse, and Luciano walked into the kitchen.

Grace was said by Mia, she had really wanted to try one of those muffins, and after breakfast was done and dishes were washed, Venus found an outfit for Torben from Ashlynn's closet. Leon was voted to take Torben to the high school, Venus was going to, but she received a call from Johnny and had disappeared. Jesse was out in the stable with Luciano and the dogs while Dom and Letty were working on the last car with Vince's insight. Silver was getting ready for her late morning art class, which would end around one and she would go visit Ashlynn, which is where Mia was right now.

The day passed fairly quickly, Mia was double checking that she had everything before she left the next day, Silver was at the hospital, Venus was helping Dom, Letty, and Vince finish up the car, and Leon, Jesse, Torben, and Luciano were playing video games in the living room. It was about three thirty when the group was finished working on the car and as they were heading back into the house, Venus got a call.

"Hello?"

"Is this Miss Russo?" A too perky voice on the other end asked.

"Yes, this is."

"Miss Santiago asked us to call to inform you that Miss Toretto has woken up."

"Really?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"We can come see her, right?"

"Of course, the doctors may be performing tests on her, but you're welcome to come in."

"Thank you."

"Of course."

"What was that about?" Vince asked as Venus hung up.

"Inside first." Venus giggled, a huge grin on her face as she ran in the house.

"There is something wrong with that girl." Vince mumbled as the three followed in the excited girl's wake.

"What's going on? Why are you so fucking giddy?" They heard Torben asking as they entered the house.

"Is everybody here?" Venus asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Everyone but Silver." Jesse confirmed.

"Good, she already knows."

"Already knows what?" A few of them asked.

"Ashlynn woke up!" Venus cried giddily. Everyone was stunned and happy. "The lady that called, she said that we can go visit, but the doctors might be performing tests on her."

"That's great!" Torben exclaimed.

"Yes, it is! So, we have to decide who's going to go right now." Venus said, grin still in place. "Luc definitely goes, since we were supposed to go get his cast off."

"Mia should go, she's leaving tomorrow." Leon said, glancing at everyone.

"Right." Venus muttered before her attention was pulled to the door where she saw Silver standing.

"Can I talk to you V?" Silver asked softly.

"Yeah, sure." Venus replied, following Silver outside. "So what's up? I figured that you'd stay with Ash for a while."

"Yeah, I was going to but, she and I talked it over a bit and she convinced me that I should tell you now... I should have told you before, but I didn't want you to worry about it or anything." Silver rambled.

"What's going on?" Venus asked apprehensively. "You're kind of scaring me S."

"Uhm, I'm going to Florida..." Silver said so softly it was almost a whisper. "I applied to colleges out there, all over really, and mum wants me with them for a bit. So I'm moving to Florida."

"Wh-what?"

"I waited until Ashlynn woke up, 'cause I didn't want to leave you alone." Silver explained. "But you've got Johnny and Jesse and them, so yeah."

"So, even if she hadn't woken up, you'd have still left." Venus mumbled.

"Yes."

"And now that she's awake, you're going to just leave."

"Not right away, but I'm going to leave soon, yes."

"So, I get one friend back, but I lose the other. Hooray for me." Venus hissed. She moved away as Silver tried to grab her hand. "Just don't." She mumbled before storming back into the house, causing everyone to look at her curiously. She stormed passed them into the bathroom, she paced back and forth before stopping in front of the sink. She stared at the mirror for a few minutes before pulling her fist back and slamming it into the mirror. "Fuck!"

"Oi! What are you punching the mirror for?" Dom asked as he walked up to her and began inspecting her hand. "You're going to the hospital. Let's go."

"Fine." Venus grumbled.

"Alright, Baby V here was a genius and punched the mirror, she's got to go to the hospital. So, let's all go. We'll visit Ashlynn in groups." Dom instructed before he pulled Venus out to the garage. Dom, Venus, Luciano and Jesse went in Venus' Honda while Leon, Vince, Letty, Mia, and Torben went in Ashlynn's Mustang.

Arriving at the hospital, Dom took Venus to the front desk where they were told to wait until a doctor came to get them. Everyone else went up to Ashlynn's room. It was about fifteen minutes later that a doctor came up to Dom and Venus.

"Miss Russo, if you and your friend would come with me?"

"Yeah, yeah." Venus mumbled as she got up and followed the doctor, Dom right behind her.

"So, what happened?" The doctor asked as he looked at Venus' hand.

"I got angry and punched a mirror." Venus stated bluntly.

"Well, you don't have any broken bones, but you're going to need stitches."

"What?" Venus asked, her eyes wide.

"You've got quite a few very deep lacerations. They need to be stitched to heal properly." The doctor informed her as he set about getting everything ready.

Thirty minutes later, Venus and Dom walked out of the room. Venus was grumbling about assholes and damned needles while Dom sported a bruise that looked like it could be a perfect set of dental rocords. The two made their way up to the third floor and to Ashlynn's room, where everyone seemed to be waiting.

"What happened to your arm?" Jesse asked, eying the mark.

"She bit me." Dom replied.

"Why did she bite you?" A couple of them asked.

"I had to pin her down so the doctor could stitch her hand up."

"And she bit you."

"I hate needles!" Venus snapped, crossing her arms. "Why are we standing out here?"

"Mia's inside, Leon and Letty just walked out." Jesse informed her.

"Ooooh."

"Vince and I went in with Luc already. We were waiting for you before we went down to see about getting his cast off."

"So it's just me, Dom, and Tor then?"

"Yup."

"Alright."

Minutes later, Mia emerged from the room and nodded at Dom and Venus. The two of them entered the room with Torben following after them. Ashlynn was looking out the window as they entered.

"You know, I should hit you for the scare you put me through!" Venus exclaimed, causing Ashlynn to turn and look at them.

Ashlynn smiled softly and held her arms out towards Venus, inviting the pixie haired girl to hug her. Venus nearly launched herself at Ashlynn, who barely flinched as she enveloped the other girl in a hug. "I'm okay, V. I'm not going anywhere."

"I was scared, you know. It felt like everything with Xander was happening all over again. And that damn doctor, he was just trying to make it worse." Venus mumbled.

"I know." Ashlynn said softly. "I could hear everything. It was so weird... I felt trapped in my own body. I hated it."

"I almost punched him in the face." Venus grumbled as she pulled away.

"Looks like you punched something." Ashlynn remarked, gesturing to Venus' bandaged hand.

"Ah, yeah... How much did you like that mirror in the bathroom?"

"The hall bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"Just a mirror, why? Is that what you punched?"

"Yes."

"And you had to get stitches."

"Uh huh."

"And that's why Dom has a bruise of your teeth on his arm?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I see." Ashlynn mumbled. "That doesn't, however, explain why Torben is here. Bruised. Dressed in my clothes."

"Hey Ash." Torben greeted with a wave.

"Why are you here, in my clothes? Not that I'm not happy to see you, 'cause I am."

"Dad kicked me out."

"Ah," Ashlynn hummed softly. "Well, we'll just have to go get your wardrobe when I'm out of this damn place."

"Sounds good to me." Torben said with a smile. "I have to admit though, your clothes are super comfy."

"I like to think so." Ashlynn grinned. "Cousin! You've not said hi to me!"

Dom laughed, "Hey Baby Girl."

"Hi Big Brother." Ashlynn smiled.


	23. Chapter 23

This chapter includes references to what happened on September 11, 2001. If it bothers you too much, I urge you not to read the end. I had intended for this chapter to be up yesterday, but everything else seemed against me getting it posted, so I'm posting it today. I do hope you enjoy it despite the emotional content within it.

For those of you that read this story living in New York or anyone who had family in New York that were taken from you on that day, my heart goes out to you for your loss.

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing realtive to the original storyline.**

Fast and the Furious 23

Ashlynn was annoyed. She hadn't allowed to leave the hospital for a few days, even though she felt completely fine. The doctors wouldn't let her leave. They wanted to run tests to be sure that there were no side effects or whatever from her having been unconscious for so long. The only thing that made it bearable was that Venus had told Doctor Krass off. Even now, the thought of that brought a smile to Ashlynn's face.

_Venus was the only one left in Ashlynn's room; they were all getting ready to leave because visiting hours were going to be over soon. The others had all said their goodbyes and had taken Luciano out to the cars with them while they let Venus talk with Ashlynn._

_ "I really did feel like I was going through everything with X all over again." Venus mumbled._

_ "I know. I didn't mean to put you through that." Ashlynn told her. She'd have said more, but the door opened and Doctor Krass walked in._

_ "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He told Venus, not even bothering to acknowledge Ashlynn._

_ Venus glared. "Visiting hours aren't over yet. I've still got," She paused and pulled her phone out to check the time. "Twenty minutes, so screw you."_

_ "And I'm asking you to leave now." Krass responded, annoyance clear in his voice._

_ "And I'm declining."_

_ "If you're going to be difficult, I'll call security."_

_ "If you weren't an asshole, I wouldn't be difficult. Besides, I requested a different doctor for Ashlynn after the crap you pulled with Luciano." Venus snapped as she stood from the chair next to Ashlynn's bed._

_ "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." Krass denied._

_ "I do." Ashlynn spoke softly, her eyes narrowed dangerously at the man._

_ "No you don't." Krass told her matter of factly._

_ "Uhm, yeah, I'm pretty sure I do." Ashlynn disputed._

_ "No," Krass insisted. "You don't. You couldn't have. You were practically brain dead. Just like her brother was."_

_ "You know what?" Venus hissed angrily. "I've had it with you bringing up my brother and the fact that he didn't wake up. So, you can just take your cynicism and shove it up your ass! She woke up! You can't stand there and say that she was practically brain dead! She says that she knows what we're talking about; I think __**she**__ would know better than __**you**__ would. It's her body after all. And just because you're a God damned doctor, doesn't mean that you know __**everything**__, in fact, I think you don't know all that much to be honest! I'm thinking about suing you because of lack of bedside manner. Talking about pulling the plug on someone in front of a four year old kid and then telling said kid that his mother is unlikely to wake up, what kind of an asshole does that?" She paused to take a breath. "It takes a special kind of asshole to do that, and that's exactly what you are, that special kind of asshole. Always assuming the worst, telling people that it isn't worth it to wait and see if their loved ones will wake up. How many people have pulled the plug on the ones they love because __**you**__ told them it wasn't worth it, because they won't wake up? How many? Too many, I'm sure. But you know what? I know what kind of an asshole you are, I know that you're just too cynical and don't have an ounce of optimism. I knew and her family knew that she would wake up. So, __**Doctor**__, take that! And the next time you have a patient in this situation, remember, Ashlynn woke up."_

_ Venus turned to Ashlynn, who was smiling and had happy tears flowing from her eyes, and hugged her. "We'll be visiting you until you get out of here."_

_ Ashlynn smiled wider, and let out a soft laugh, "Alright." As Venus was walking out the door, Ashlynn called out to her, causing the pixie haired girl to turn around. "Thanks V, for not giving up on me. Love you, bestest best friend."_

_ Venus smiled and Ashlynn couldn't be sure, but she thought she might have seen tears in the other girl's eyes. "Of course, that's what bestest best friends are for." And then she was gone, leaving Ashlynn with Krass._

_ "You can leave." Ashlynn stated, not even bothering to look at the doctor._

_ "Your vitals need to be checked."_

_ "Have someone else do it. I don't want you near me." She paused. "Besides, the door was open the entire time and Venus was pretty loud. I'm sure a lot of people heard her. You might want to be careful, doctor, people around here know a lot of other people. Someone will know someone who was in your care, and that someone will tell their friend what happened, and then what do you think is going to happen? You'll probably have a lot of people suing you. I'd get on gathering a list of all of the patients you've have the plugs pulled on if I was you."_

Ashlynn hadn't seen Krass since and she'd been assigned to Andrew, whom Ashlynn had known since Luciano was born. He'd been new to the practice then, but he was one of the doctors that Ashlynn actually trusted; it helped that she considered him a friend more than a doctor. She didn't much like doctors. Speaking of Andrew, he would be by soon to run more tests. She didn't know what they were or what they were for. All she knew was that she felt fine, her reflexes were fine, she could hold a conversation just fine, she could walk perfectly, and she wasn't in any sort of pain; though, that could be the meds they still had her on.

"Good Morning, Ash." Andrew greeted. She'd insisted that he call her Ash or Ashlynn rather than calling her Ms. Toretto. It made her feel like he was talking to her mother, not her.

"Morning Andrew," She greeted in response. "Tell me, am I going to be getting out of here anytime soon?"

He chuckled. "If all goes well, you'll be out of here today."

"Yes! Thank you!" She grinned. "Not that I don't like your company, but the food sucks and being forced to stay in this hospital bed most of the time isn't fun."

Andrew laughed, "I know Ash. Don't worry, I know you hate the tests we've been running. And Venus has been very vocal about it on your behalf."

"Yup, that's Venus." And with that, Ashlynn was whisked off to finish up the tests the hospital wanted to run.

When Dom and Letty showed up at three with Luciano, they had street clothes for Ashlynn, who accepted them gratefully. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she was dressed in the grey skinny jeans and the black camisole with a white racerback over it. She'd been surprised to find make up in the purse they'd brought everything in, which she'd taken a few minutes to apply before she slipped into the black flats, glad that they'd found something other than heels.

"Better?" Dom asked as he saw the grin on her face.

"Much! Let's go!" Ashlynn exclaimed.

"You know, it's hospital protocol for patients to be taken out in a wheelchair after they've woken up from a coma." Andrew said from the doorway.

"Nope, I refuse the use of a wheelchair. I can walk just fine. Your tests said so. So I am going to walk my happy ass out of this hospital." Ashlynn said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know, I just wanted to see if I could get you into the wheelchair." Andrew teased. "Here are your discharge papers, I just need you to sign them."

"Okie dokie."

After all the paperwork had been taken care of, Ashlynn was finally allowed to leave and she did so, walking out of the hospital, holding her son's hand. She'd been told she shouldn't pick him up for a while, just to be sure she didn't hurt herself. Ashlynn smiled as she saw her car in the parking lot, even if she wasn't allowed to drive it for a few days. She slid into the backseat with Luciano and was practically bouncing in her seat the entire ride home, causing Dom to chuckle and shake his head. When they got to the house, Ashlynn bounded inside and almost screeched when a group of people yelled out _surprise_. She looked at everyone that was gathered in her living room; Jesse, Leon, Vince, Venus, Silver, Torben, Allen, Jawn, Sandra, Jenny, and Johnny.

"OHMIGOD!" She cried, her eyes wide. She was practically tackled by the four children as they all hugged her at once.

"We're glad you're alright, Miss Ashlynn." They chorused.

"Awe, you guys are too cute." She said as she hugged them back as best as she could. "I'm glad I'm alright too."

"AAAASHLYYYYYYNNNNNNNN! I MADE SOMETHING FOR YOU!" Venus sang out as she pranced forward, presenting Ashlynn with a styrofoam something.

"Uhm, what is it?" Ashlynn asked as she took it from Venus and examined it.

"It's a Unicorn!" Venus exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Then where's its horn?"

"They're expensive." Venus mumbled.

Ashlynn laughed and hugged Venus. "Thanks V, I love it. But, you're totally cleaning up the mess."

Johnny hugged her next. "It's good to see you, Little Lotus."

"It's nice to know that you're awake, how come no one told me?" Ashlynn asked.

"We wanted it to be a surprise?" Venus replied sheepishly.

"You just totally forgot, didn't you?" Ashlynn countered.

"Maybe," Venus replied petulantly.

"Where are Myka and Jericho?" Ashlynn asked before hugging Silver, Torben, Vince, Leon and Jesse.

"I think they're out laying in the barn." Venus replied. "Why?"

"'Cause we're gonna go get Torben's stuff and I know that they can look pretty scary." Ashlynn replied nonchalantly.

"Don't you think you should wait? You just got out of the hospital." Silver asked softly.

"It's been about a week since I woke up, Torben's probably been wearing my clothing since, which is fine, but I kinda want it back." Ashlynn replied. "Besides, I'm not going alone. I'm going to take the guys with me. We'll be back in a few hours, max."

"If you think it's alright." Silver murmured.

"I'll be fine." Ashlynn insisted before going to the back door and calling for the dogs. They both came running and she moved out of the doorway before she could be knocked down by the two. "Hi doggies, ow, Myka, that's my foot." She grabbed their leashes out of the laundry room and attached them to the collars as she made her way back to the living room. "Silver, where did we put the copies of the photos?"

"I'll go grab them." Silver replied, disappearing and reappearing in all of five minutes, a thick folder in her hands. "Here."

"Thank you," Ashlynn mumbled as she picked her purse up off the floor and tucked the folder in it. "Gentlemen, shall we go?" The guys all glanced at each other and nodded, walking out to the garage. "Luc, listen to your aunties." And then she too walked out to the garage. All of the guys were talking as she walked out with the dogs. "Torben, you and Leon are going to take the Explorer with the dogs and the trailer. Vince and Dom are going to take the Challenger from the separate garage, Johnny is gonna take the Vipe, and Me and Jesse are going to take my car." She handed the leashes to Torben before going to the wall that the door was on and opening a small cabinet. She grabbed the keys that would be needed and passed them to the designated partners as Dom handed Jesse Ashlynn's keys. "Alright, let's go. We're following you, Tor."While Torben and Leon got the trailer attached to the Explorer, Ashlynn took Dom and Vince to the separate garage where the Challenger was. "This was dad's car."

"Better be careful then." Dom said with a smile.

Ashlynn smiled back, "I would appreciate that." They all left as soon as Torben and Leon declared the trailer attached.

It was about a forty-five minute drive from Ashlynn's home to Torben's house, if it could be called that. The roof seemed to have patches missing, a section of the gutter was missing, the grass was dying, paint was chipping off, and it looked as though at least one window was broken. Ashlynn and Torben walked up to the house first, the others were all leaning against the cars, watching. Ashlynn knocked on the door as she stood slightly in front of Torben, who had insisted that she stay with the guys. There was a thud from inside, followed by a curse before the door opened, revealing Torben's father. It was obvious that the man had a hangover.

"You?" The man asked in confusion, his rancid breath hitting Ashlynn in the face, she forced herself not to gag.

"Me," Ashlynn replied.

"What're you doing here?"

"I've come to get Torben's things."

"Torben's things?"

'Yes, you know, his clothing, knick knacks and such."

"Why?"

"Because he's going to be staying with me from now on until he finds somewhere else he'd rather stay."

The man seemed to have finally realized that his son was standing behind Ashlynn. "Was this your idea, boy?"

"No it was not." Torben muttered softly.

"No it was not, what?" The man spat back, saliva flying from his mouth, hitting Ashlynn in the face.

"You know what," Ashlynn spoke up, not giving the man more of a chance to torment the seventeen year old. "If you're going to be an asshole, I'll just call the police and inform them of the years of abuse your son has suffered from you."

"Abuse? Is that what the little fag told you?" The man sputtered angrily.

"He didn't have to tell me, Mr. Damaris. The evidence speaks for itself." Ashlynn shot back.

"Evidence, what evidence?" The man spat. "You can't prove I did anything."

"Actually, I can. All it takes is one phone call to the police, a statement given by your son, and all of the photographs of his injuries over the years. You're looking at quite a bit of jail time. And let me tell you, jail isn't very fun." Ashlynn stated in a deadly calm voice, causing Myka and Jericho to start growling. "You see the bald man standing behind me? He spent two years behind bars, he came out just fine, a little jaded perhaps, but can you say the same would happen for you?"

"You're bluffing." The man stated uncertainly.

"I'm not." Ashlynn said with a shake of her head. "I've got copies of the photos right here," She paused to take the thick folder out of her purse before holding it out to the man. "See, that's a lot of abuse for just the past two and a half years. Who knows how much went on before that."

The man smacked the file out of Ashlynn's hand angrily, "Bullshit."

Ashlynn just smiled as she glanced down at the now scattered photographs on the ground. "Not bullshit," She said as she heard gravel crunching behind her, signaling the guys crossing the street. "And I really wish you didn't do that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, for your own good, actually."

"Why is that?"

"Well, I just got out of the hospital, gunshot wounds," Ashlynn stated with a smile. "The bald one who went to prison, he's my cousin. He went to jail  
because of something that happened to his dad. He's very protective of family, you're screwed." She said politely before letting go of the dogs' leashes and watching with a sort of sick fascination as they jumped at the man and knocked him down as the guys stepped up behind her.

"Vicious much?" Vince asked as he looked from Ashlynn to the dogs.

"Nah, they're harmless actually." Ashlynn said with a shrug. "They'll just stand here and growl at him. You guys can go get Torben's stuff."

Torben led the way in the house around his father and the guys followed after him. Leon paused next to Ashlynn and looked at her with an unreadable expression on her face. Ashlynn raised an eyebrow curiously before looking down at his hands; he had picked up one of the scattered photos. It was a picture of Torben's back, a more recent one, with jagged cuts, shallow and deep scattered all across the once smooth surface of the boy's back.

"That was one of the worst." Ashlynn told him softly. "We had to call Andrew out and swore him to secrecy, despite the fact that it went against ethics. We told him that we were going to deal with it. That was about seven months ago, around Luciano's birthday."

"This is horrible." Leon spoke softly.

"I know." Ashlynn replied. "But he won't be here anymore. He won't have to go through it anymore. You better get in there before they come looking for you."

Leon nodded, dropping the picture before stepping around the sad excuse of a man on the ground where the dogs were still growling at him, and following the sound of the guys' voices. Ashlynn stood in front of the front door, staring impassively at the scared man, vaguely aware that neighbors were coming out of their houses to watch. Soon, the guys were bringing out bags and a few boxes containing Torben's clothing and possessions. They made a few trips back and forth and barely filled the trailer with the teen's things.

"Is that everything?" Ashlynn asked as the trailer was closed and locked.

"Almost," Torben said softly before going through the gate into the backyard. He emerged again a few minutes later with a fairly large crow with what appeared to be bandages wrapped around its right wing, sitting on the teens shoulder. Torben had a large bag of bird feed in his arms as he approached the group. "It's alright that I bring him, right?" Torben asked shyly, almost as if he was unsure that Ashlynn would let him have the bird.

"Of course you can bring him." Ashlynn told him with a smile as Jesse took the bird feed and put it in the back of the Explorer. Ashlynn found herself pulled into a hug that almost dislodged the bird from the teen's shoulder. Smiling softly, Ashlynn returned the hug, holding the boy tightly to her as she felt tears dropping onto her skin. "It's ok now," She whispered to him. "You're going to be alright now."

"I know," He whispered back, sniffling before pulling away and getting into the passenger seat of the Explorer.

"Leon," Ashlynn said softly as he went to walk past her to the Explorer. "Take care of him." She told him as he looked back at her curiously. When he nodded, Ashlynn walked back up to the still open front door. "You can burn these photos if you'd like. I've got the originals at home, so it won't matter." She told the man before she called the dogs off and grabbed their leashes, walking backwards down the walkway to the cars, watching as the man picked himself up disgruntledly. Ashlynn waved sweetly before putting the dogs in the Explorer and then getting into her car with Jesse. The drive back to Ashlynn's home was mostly quiet, the two of them talking here and there along the way.

"If I ask why Leon seemed so struck by the photos of Torben, will you tell me?" Ashlynn asked softly, looking over at Jesse.

Jesse looked over at her before turning his attention back to the road. "Leon was in somewhat of a similar situation. Not as bad, but it probably remindedhim of that."

"Oh, I see." Ashlynn said softly. "Jaded souls."

"Yes, well, your friend has taken quite the liking to Leon. He hasn't stopped hitting on him since he showed up." Jesse told her.

"Sounds like Tor." Ashlynn smiled. "Doesn't seem like Leon minds too much."

Jesse shrugged as they pulled in through the gate. "It's his choice."

"Does it bother you?"

"Nah, it's Leon. He's always been there for me."

Ashlynn smiled as they pulled into the garage and leaned over to kiss Jesse. "You're awesome, you know that?" She asked as she pulled away.

"I do now." Jesse replied cheekily.

Ashlynn smiled again as they got out of the car. "Better go let Silver know I'm alright." She said before getting the dogs from the Explorer and taking them into the house while the guys unloaded Torben's stuff and put it in the guesthouse. "I see sushi!" Ashlynn called as she stepped into the living room and caught sight of the island counter in the kitchen.

"AND HOT CHEETOS!" Venus' voice answered from somewhere in the kitchen.

"AND MISO SOUP!" Luciano's voice sounded.

"My favorite!" Ashlynn exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen.

"I know!" Venus exclaimed back. "It's like a welcome back dinner."

"Awe, V." Ashlynn smiled softly and hugged the other girl. "You didn't have to do this. Don't you have lessons?"

"Cut them a little short. The kids don't mind. They insisted, actually." Venus replied, returning the hug.

"I see." Ashlynn murmured. "Where's Letty and Silver?"

"Silver's with a class and Letty is outside with my class, watching in case they fall in the pool." Venus replied as she moved around the kitchen as the guys walked in.

Ashlynn smiled, helping Venus around the kitchen, what little bit the other girl would let her. When dinner was set, everyone sat in the living room, plates full of sushi and hot cheetos and bowls of miso soup, cups full of hot tea or sake with soda and water for the kids if they wanted, and armed with chop sticks. The night was full of laughter and smiles, the whole family together once again, even Mia who Ashlynn was talking to on the phone as she ate. As the evening wore on, Silver and Venus' students were picked up by their parents, the team got a little tipsy, and Ashlynn was glad to be surrounded by the people that she loved and cared for. And that night as everyone was getting to sleep, Ashlynn lay next to Luciano, humming softly until the young boy went to sleep before creeping to her room and changing into her pajamas, consisting of a tank top and shorts, and crawled into her large bed and fell asleep next to Jesse.

Tuesday morning dawned early for everyone. Ashlynn was going to go with Jesse to drop Luciano off for preschool and let Venus sleep in. The team was shuffling around the kitchen, drinking coffee Ashlynn had made, munching on the breakfast that Ashlynn and Jesse had prepared when Ashlynn noticed that Leon and Torben were missing; she didn't count Venus as missing, seeing as she knew where the other girl and Johnny were at. Smiling softly, Ashlynn grabbed two trays and put two plates on each with two cups of coffee each and orange juice. With that done, Ashlynn took one tray up to Venus' room, succeeding in not waking the short tempered girl, but she did make Johnny stir. She bid him good luck on waking Venus and then disappeared downstairs again. When she got downstairs, she grabbed the second tray and made her way out to the guesthouse while Jesse and Luciano made their way to the garage.

"Knock, knock," Ashlynn called as she balanced the tray on one hand and knocked on the door. There was what Ashlynn assumed was an annoyed groan before the door was opened moments later. "Should I have brought strawberries and whipped cream instead of chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs?" She asked as she noted the hickey on Torben's neck.

The teen blushed and ducked his head. "Thank you for breakfast, Ashlynn. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to close the door now." Torben mumbled as he took the tray.

Ashlynn grinned as Jesse pulled up in front of the guesthouse. "No problem, Tor, I've got to take Luc to preschool. Remember to bring the dishes back to the house." She said before making her way down the stairs and into the car.

"That was a tad bit embarrassing." Torben muttered as he shut the door and placed the tray on the small kitchenette table.

"Wasn't that bad," Leon said with a smile as he walked up to the younger boy and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"It could have been worse." Torben conceded, leaning against Leon as he grabbed a pancake and took a bit out of it. "Mmm, homemade food," He murmured. "The only time I have homemade food is when I'm over here."

"Well, you'll be having it for a while then." Leon said softly, grabbing a forkful of eggs.

"Yeah," Torben said softly.

When Ashlynn and Jesse got to the preschool, Ashlynn got out and walked up to the doors with Luciano. Upon reaching the doors, Ashlynn found herself standing in front of a woman with wavy brown hair and light brown eyes.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Brown, are you another relative?" The woman asked, glancing from Luciano to Ashlynn.

"This is my mommy!" Luciano chirped excitedly.

The woman looked surprised. "Oh."

"You must be my son's teacher." Ashlynn spoke softly.

"Yes, I am."

"I see." Ashlynn muttered before crouching down next to Luciano. "Bambino, why don't you go and play with your new friends, I want to talk to your teacher."

"Ok, Mamma!" The boy agreed with a smile. "Ti amo!" And then he was running off as Ashlynn stood up and turned her attention back to the teacher.

"I was informed that you weren't appreciative of my friend's behavior when she dropped my son off for his first day of school." Ashlynn said, crossing her arms loosely. "I was also informed that you told my cousin that you were contemplating calling CPS because of it."

"I was." The teacher confirmed with a nod.

"I see," Ashlynn murmured. "I'd like to tell you something before you ever threaten to take my son away ever again. One, I just got out of the hospital because of gunshot wounds, given to me by someone I thought I could trust, but the right amount of money made him turn against me. If he doesn't get convicted, he could come after my son, and if you get my son taken away from me and something happens to him, I'm going to hold you responsible. Second, I protect my family fiercely. They are my life, my son is at the top of that list, and if you try and get him taken away from me, I will do everything in my power to prove that you're wrong. Third, my best friend, his aunt, may be a little eccentric and short tempered, but if ever I needed someone to protect my son with their life, I would trust her to do so." Ashlynn paused to stare at the woman before her impassively. "Do we understand each other?"

The woman nodded, "We do."

"Good, then I hope to never hear of something like this again. Because trust me, when I get angry, whatever it was that Venus did, I'll make that seem like nothing. Good day." And with that, Ashlynn was walking back to her car where Jesse was waiting.

It was a little after eight when Ashlynn and Jesse got back to the house. Everyone was gathered in the living room or kitchen, some still munching on what was left of breakfast, others just lounging.

"So, what is everyone doing today?" Ashlynn asked as she plopped herself down on the couch and stole a sip of Venus' coffee, despite the loud protests the other girl was giving.

"We're working on cars that Venus made appointments for." Letty replied with a shrug.

"Fun, did she tell how much we usually charge?" Ashlynn asked curiously.

"She did," Dom replied.

"Charging more, 'cause they're like, certified mechanics or whatever." Venus interjected sleepily.

"Makes sense," Ashlynn murmured. "What're you doing today, V?"

"I'm going to organize my workshop and physical therapy. Johnny and I might go around town and stuff." Venus replied nonchalantly.

"Why do you have to organize your workshop? You haven't been in there in-" Ashlynn cut herself off. "You trashed it didn't you?"

"Maybe," Venus muttered moodily.

"I'm sorry V." Ashlynn whispered, leaning her head against Venus' shoulder.

"It's alright Ash."

"I'm just glad it isn't the stable again." Ashlynn teased.

"Ugh, that was terrible." Venus grumbled. "You're lucky it wasn't the stable again.'

"I know," Ashlynn muttered. "Believe me, I know." She looked over to Torben. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm stealing your shower first." Torben shot back playfully.

Time passed sedately and Ashlynn turned the television on as she did the dishes, listening to the news as she did so. She was vaguely aware of Leon returning from having dropped Torben off at school as she closed the dishwasher. Ashlynn smiled as Leon walked into the kitchen.

"So, is this where I grill you on your intentions towards Torben?" Ashlynn teased, leaning on the island counter facing Leon.

"I don't know, is it?" Leon asked, seemingly serious.

"Just don't hurt him. I'd hate to have to hurt family for hurting family." Ashlynn said seriously. "I've been trying to talk him into leaving his father's house since I figured it out, but he refused."

"I know, he told me last night." Leon replied, leaning against the counter.

"I thought his eyes looked a little puffy." Ashlynn remarked.

"Yeah, he cried quite a bit last night. Cried himself to sleep."

Ashlynn sighed, "He tries so hard to act like it doesn't bother him, what his dad does to him, but as much as I hate to say it, what his father did turned him into the person he is today. He's a fighter because of it."

"We're all fighters because of something." Leon said softly.

"That's true," Ashlynn conceded. "So, what say you to picking Luciano up with me and then going and picking up Tor?"

"Sounds like a plan." Leon replied with a smile.

"Good." Ashlynn smiled back. "Might wanna hide that love bite, lest you get teased when you're out there working on the cars."

Leon laughed as he walked out the door, "Thanks for the advice."

It was about twenty minutes later when the team rushed back into the house. Ashlynn had dropped a glass and the sound echoed out through the open windows. They were asking what was wrong before they even made it in the house as Johnny and Venus and Silver ran downstairs, but Ashlynn wasn't responding. She was watching the television intently as the news was showing footage of the Northern Tower of the World Trade Center billowing black smoke against the bright blue sky.

"Oh my God," Letty muttered, looking at the television. "What the hell happened?"

"They're saying that planes have been hijacked… One of the planes was flown into the tower." Ashlynn murmured.

"That's insane!" Letty cried outrageously.

"Indeed it is." Ashlynn whispered before crouching down to clean up the glass she'd dropped.

"Go sit down baby girl," Dom said, pulling her up gently. "We'll clean this up."

Ashlynn shakily made her way to the couch, stepping around the glass, before she let herself collapse. "All those people…" Ashlynn murmured.

The morning continued, the news reporting three more planes had been hijacked and crashed, and Ashlynn was shaken by each one. She knew that there were messed up people in the world, but to kill innocent people like that, she just couldn't understand it. All those people most likely had families, people that loved them, and now they'd have to bury their loved ones. Poor people who hadn't been able to get out of the buildings that had jumped, Ashlynn couldn't even begin to imagine what they'd been thinking about as they made the decision to jump. Ashlynn and Leon left to pick Luciano up and she was silent, still trying to make sense of what the hell had been going through these people's minds, hijacking and crashing planes. When Luciano got in the car, he was quiet. For a four year old, he was a smart boy, very smart, and when Ashlynn turned in her seat to look back at her son, she could tell that he was trying to understand the tragedy that had happened that day.

"Mamma?" He asked softly as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yes Bambino?"

"Why did the people do that?"

"There are just some very mean and messed up people in the world," Ashlynn replied. "Some people do things like this for money, revenge, or just to make a point. I don't know why they did it, but they did and it's a very sad thing."

"Oh," Luciano mumbled softly.

The rest of the drive to Torben's high school and the wait for school to let out was silent. When school finally let out, Ashlynn got out of her car and leaned against it as she kept an eye out for Torben. Students that passed would stop and stare at her car. Some people, students she didn't recognize, actually came up and asked her about the paint job and were surprised to find that it hadn't been done professionally. When Ashlynn found Torben, she noticed he was being harassed by a boy that she would bet was Torben's boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend now, and politely excused herself to make her way to the teen's defense.

"Torben!" She called as she approached, causing the boy to turn in surprise and give her a relieved look. "What's going on?"

"Who're you?" The other boy growled.

"I'm the one he's living with now." Ashlynn replied coldly.

"This is none of your concern." The boy growled out.

"Actually it is," Ashlynn disputed. "See, he's living with me, I consider him family, which makes this my concern. Now, what's the problem?"

"There's no prob-" The boy began, only to be cut off by Ashlynn.

"I wasn't asking you." Ashlynn spoke coldly. "I was asking Tor." She turned to look at Torben. "Sweetie, what's going on?"

"Uhm, this is Zach, he was my boyfriend." Torben told her softly. "He's mad that he saw me kiss Leon."

"Was… As in, this is the boy your father scared off?"

"Yes," Torben whispered.

"I see." Ashlynn murmured. "Did he try and talk to you at all since you showed up at my house?"

"No, he didn't. But dad destroyed my phone and I haven't been able to get a new one yet."

"I see, did you give him my home number? To contact you there in case you left your dad's house?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if he saved the number."

"Uh-huh, I see. And so you assumed he didn't want to have anything to do with you, because he didn't attempt to contact you at my house?"

"Right."

"Which in turn, made you think that it was alright for you to be with Leon, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's bullshit!" Zach snapped.

"So, you tried to contact him? You tried to call my house?"

"No," Zach replied uncertainly.

"So, what Torben said isn't bullshit. You might as well have broken up with him. Basically, you did. You left him at the mercy of his father and then didn't even bother to try and find out if he was still alive, so you know what, you can just get the fuck over it if he's found someone else."

"He's cheating on me!" Zach exclaimed.

"No, he's not. You left him, plain and simple, so he found someone who will care about him more than you did." Ashlynn replied. Zach opened his mouth, but Ashlynn cut him off. "Do not argue with me," She stated evenly. "I just got out of the hospital, I'm a little cranky and many innocent people have died today, which upsets me greatly. Do not sit here and argue with me when you have a change to find someone else while there are people that will never have that chance again." She turned back to Torben. "Let's go sweetie, Leon's in the car." And then they were gone.

It was somber in Ashlynn's home that night, everyone was trying to cheer up, but the thought of so many people's families being incomplete dampened their mood, and that night, instead of going to separate rooms to sleep, everyone gathered together in the living room. The couch and table had been moved to clear up the living room and inflatable mattresses had been laid down and blown up. Blankets and pillows were moved into the living room and everyone laid together with the comfort that they had each other as they fell asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

So, for my wonderful readers, I have finished Chapter Twenty-Four. Mostly because I was under threat from Venus, who left a lovely review, that she would stalk and pester me until this chapter was finished and posted. Which is totally fine, 'cause I love my bestest best friend and without her, I'd probably only be up to chapter twelve right now. So everybody has Venus to thank for this fanfic being this far along.

I would like to point out that, because the last chapter was kind of sad, I've tried to make part of this chapter humorous. Though, I don't guarantee that you'll understand the humor behind everything because at the time, these things were funny to Venus and myself during our IM conversations. But I do hope you enjoy this chapter nonetheless and I will be working on chapter twenty-five.

Is it odd that while watching the Fast and Furious movies, I see the twists I've made, or plan to make, to the storyline?

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the original storyline, like I've said before.**

Fast and the Furious 24

The next few days passed in a somber blur, Luciano went to school, Venus had therapy and lessons, the team would work on cars, and Ashlynn was calling up her students to let them know that she was fine and lessons would resume soon. Torben and Leon were officially a couple, which Ashlynn found adorable, if not a little odd, seeing as they'd only known each other for a few weeks max. But you know what they say, love works in mysterious ways, and that's exactly what Ashlynn believed this to be. Besides, Venus and Johnny only knew each other for a few days, and Ashlynn found out that Venus had given Johnny the bracelet that Xander had gifted her for her birthday. Ashlynn had been stunned, for she had once seen Venus rip into a girl during senior year just for touching it in admiration, and yet, she'd left it with Johnny. Ashlynn couldn't quite understand it. And then you had her and Jesse, a few days was all it had taken between the two of them as well, and look at them now, living together as if they'd always done so.

Saturday morning came and most of the residents in Ashlynn's house slept in until eleven or later, only waking at the smell of food being cooked and coffee being brewed. Ashlynn was moving about the kitchen, mixing a batter of some sort when Vince walked into the kitchen at a sedate pace. He moved around Ashlynn, trying to stay out of her way as he got himself a large cup of coffee before going and sitting down at the table.

"Morning Vince," Ashlynn spoke softly as she poured the batter into a muffin tin.

"Morning," Vince grumbled back as he drank his coffee.

Slowly, everyone made an appearance as Ashlynn made breakfast consisting of omelets, scrambled eggs, crepes, chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, sausage, and muffins. There was butter, syrup and jam set out, along with orange juice and milk, just pulled out of the fridge, as Torben and Leon walked in from the guesthouse. Grace was said by Venus, who had greedily grabbed at the chocolate chip pancakes, and brunch passed like any other morning, quiet at first and steadily coming alive as the residents awoke completely.

"I feel _so fat_," Venus complained loudly as she sat back in her chair, hands resting on her stomach, having eaten a large portion of the pancakes, a few crepes, a muffin, and a serving spoonful of eggs.

"You know what they say," Ashlynn began as she raised her glass of orange juice. "You are what you eat."

"That's funny," Venus shot back, looking slightly affronted, as Ashlynn sipped at her juice. "I don't recall eating a sexy beast." Her comment caused not only Ashlynn, but Vince and Dom to choke on their beverage of choice.

"Nice V," Ashlynn drawled, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. "I didn't want my juice anyways."

"Always glad to help."

"Then you won't mind doing the dishes."

"Actually, I'm busy."

"Oh really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Doing what?"

"Something other than washing dishes."

Ashlynn snorted and rolled her eyes in mock annoyance at Venus. "Uh-huh, whatever you say V."

After the dishes had been washed and loaded into the dishwasher, the large group was lounging in the living room, scattered about the sectional and the floor. Venus was lying on the ground when all of a sudden she sat up with a shriek.

"AH! ASHLYNN! MY ARM FELL ALSEEP!"

Ashlynn raised an eyebrow, looking much like Dom when he would do the same, "And just what am I supposed to do about that?"

"FIX IT! FIT IT NAO!" Venus whined, flailing her right arm about.

"How and I supposed to fix it?"

"MAKE IT STOP!"

"It'll stop on its own!"

"MAKE IT STOP NAO! NAO, NAO, NAO!"

Ashlynn rolled her eyes, "Just massage your arm V."

Venus pouted as she rubbed at her arm, "IT FEELS FUNNY!"

"Of course it does," Ashlynn mumbled as everyone else laughed at the scene before them.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed with a calm laziness; Dom and Venus were out working on Xander's car, Leon, Torben, Jesse, and Luciano were playing video games, Vince and Letty were laying out in the backyard around the pool, and Johnny and Ashlynn were in the kitchen talking while Silver was upstairs packing. It was about four when Dom and Venus walked in, laughing at something that had been said, causing everyone to look at them before going back to what they had been doing.

"That was a good one, Baby V." Dom commented as they walked into the kitchen.

"Don't you get grease all over my house," Ashlynn ordered, taking note of the look on Johnny's face at Venus' new nickname.

"Don't worry, we won't get grease everywhere," Venus mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

"Like I haven't heard that before," Ashlynn muttered pointedly as she, too, rolled her eyes.

Venus just waved her off and Ashlynn shook her head before moving around Venus and Dom to get to the fridge. She paid half attention to their conversation as she prepared the food she was going to make for dinner; tri-tip, potato wedges, pasta salad, and fruit salad. She had been in the middle of dicing up fruit while waiting for the water for the pasta to boil when Johnny snapped.

"What is with that ridiculous nickname?" The tall Asian man exclaimed, finally fed up with having heard his girlfriend called 'Baby V' by his one time friend turned enemy.

"It's just a nickname," Dom replied casually, a smirk on his face. "Helps differentiate Baby V from V."

Johnny glared, "I don't like it."

Venus scowled, they were talking like she wasn't even there. She didn't like it when people did that, it was rude.

"It's not your nickname, so deal with it," Dom told Johnny as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Everyone in the family has a nickname."

"She's not your family," Johnny stated coolly.

"Yes she is," Dom stated just as coolly.

"Why don't you both stop talking about her as if she isn't here," Ashlynn stated as she watched the growing anger on Venus' face.

"No, she's not," Johnny continued as though he hadn't heard Ashlynn. "Her family is dead."

"That was the wrong thing to say," Ashlynn murmured.

"Just because her family happens to be dead doesn't make her not a part of the family." Dom countered. "You consider Baby Girl family, don't you? Her parents are dead, but we're still family, and you still consider her family."

"That's different!" Johnny shouted. "You're blood related to Ashlynn!"

"Letty, Vince, Leon, and Jesse aren't!" Dom shouted back. "Baby V is a part of this family whether you accept it or not."

"She doesn't need to be a part of your fucked up, misfit family!"

"STOP IT!" Venus yelled before Dom could say anything back to Johnny. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here, stop talking like I don't have a choice in the matter, and stop talking like you know what's best for me!"

"Ve-" Johnny began, only to be cut off by Venus.

"No!" Venus snapped angrily. "They're my family and, apparently, that means I get a nickname; especially since they don't know my full name."

"Babe, you're family is dead," Johnny spoke, trying to calm the enraged girl down. "You told me so."

"I know I did," Venus hissed with an angry sadness. "I don't need a reminder! They make me feel like I belong, like I have a family."

"But you don't!" Johnny said, promptly shoving his foot in his mouth, metaphorically of course.

"I know that!" Venus snapped. "But they make me feel like I do. I haven't had a complete family since I pulled the plug on Xander, but they make me feel like I have a complete family again! And if that means I get a somewhat ridiculous nickname, then so be it!"

"But-"

"No!" Venus growled. "Don't talk to me!" And with this, she stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her, only to come back in moments later fuming even more. "I live here, you leave!" She snapped before storming off to her room.

"Now you've done it!" Ashlynn snapped, slapping both men upside the back of the head. Dom and Johnny both looked at her questioningly, not sure what they'd done. "She's not going to eat now! I'll have to try and convince her to, but I've never had much luck in the past when she's done this, so I blame you two if she refuses to eat!"

"But-" Both men began, only to be cut off by Ashlynn.

"Oh no," Ashlynn spoke coolly. "This is your fault." She pointed to Johnny, "It's just a nickname, like the one you and your family gave me," Then she turned to Dom, "And you! You didn't have to be a jerk and purposefully antagonize him!" She glared at them both before going back to work on dinner. Everyone else went back to what they were doing, not wanting to further anger Ashlynn, and Dom and Johnny went separate ways; Dom out to the backyard and Johnny to the living room.

It was forty-five minutes later that dinner was ready and Jesse insisted that Ashlynn let him carry the dishes to the table, so as to not aggravate her stitches. She tried to argue, but he pointed out that she'd been doing a lot since she got home from the hospital and it was a wonder that they weren't already aggravated, and with a pout, she accepted defeat. While Jesse was putting the food on the table, Ashlynn made her way upstairs to Venus' room to try and talk the short haired girl into eating dinner.

"V?" Ashlynn called softly as she knocked on the door, only getting a muffled groan in response. "C'mon V," She said as she opened the door to find her friend curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed, underneath the blanket. "Dinner's ready."

"Not hungry," Venus replied shakily.

"Please V?" Ashlynn asked as she approached the bed and sat down on the edge. "I made tri-tip, with potato wedges, and that pasta salad you like so much, you know, the one with the artichoke hearts, and there's fruit salad, too."

"No," Came the grumbled response.

"V, c'mon, don't let what they said bother you." Ashlynn said as she tugged the blanket away from Venus. "They just don't like each other. At all."

"You don't say," Venus griped, still curled up on her side, glaring at the wall.

"Alright, I guess that goes without saying," Ashlynn agreed. "But c'mon, they're not worth it. You're family, okay? Don't ever doubt that. You'll always be my bestest best friend, hyphen, sister, so don't ever think otherwise, alright? Will you come down and eat? Just a little bit?"

Venus grumbled, sighing as she uncurled a bit. "I'll come downstairs, but I don't guarantee that I'll eat."

Ashlynn smiled softly, "Alright." She stood and held a hand out for her sullen friend. "C'mon then."

Venus grumbled incoherently under her breath but took Ashlynn's hand and got off her bed. The two made their way downstairs and before either Dom or Johnny could say anything, Ashlynn glared at them. Dinner was tense, as no one wanted to upset Venus anymore and no one was sure might set the short tempered girl off. Venus pointedly ignored Dom and Johnny from her seat between Ashlynn and Luciano, the only two who weren't being given death glares of fiery doom when they spoke to her. Venus didn't eat very much, a few bites of pasta salad, a potato wedge, a few small bites of tri-tip and three pieces of watermelon from the fruit salad. When dinner was finished, Venus was off to her room again, intent on sequestering herself away from the others.

Leon and Torben shooed Ashlynn out of the kitchen and they washed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, insisting that she take a chance to relax. But she couldn't relax, not knowing that her friend was upset and angry. Ashlynn had gone to check on Venus, but the other girl had wanted to be left alone. Ashlynn only agreed to let Venus have her privacy if Jericho stayed with her. Venus had agreed so long as Ashlynn would go away. With a sign, Ashlynn turned, leaving Venus alone with Jericho and told everyone she was going to bed before retiring to her room; which struck the others odd, as it was only about seven.

It was a short while later that Jesse came upstairs and found Ashlynn in a pair of pajama pants and an oversized sweatshirt, curled up in her arm chair, staring out at the setting sun.

"Hey," Jesse spoke softly.

"Hey," Ashlynn replied just as softly.

"You okay?" Jesse asked.

"I dunno really." Ashlynn replied, sighing deeply. "My best friend is upset and I don't know what to do, or even what I can do, to help."

"Has this ever happened before?"

"Yeah, a few times, she got in a couple of arguments with her ex and she just got so angry that she hid herself away for a few days, but then she was fine, acting like her normal self. I just don't know what to do. I didn't know what to do then either."

"Well, then all you can do is be there for her when she's ready." Jesse said softly as he pulled her out of the chair and into his arms for a much needed hug. "Just like with Torben, you couldn't help him without him wanting your help, you can't help Venus without her wanting your help. Otherwise it may cause her to push you away."

"I don't want to push her away, I'm just so worried about her, I don't want her to spiral into depression."

"Isn't that a bit drastic for just having an argument?"

"It wasn't just an argument though, she was repeatedly reminded that she didn't have any blood family left. She can do pretty well at keeping herself from thinking about it, 'cause she knows that she has me and Silver and Luc, we're her family. But what Johnny said, it rattled her, and if she gets depressed, I'm going to have to hurt him. I really am."

"Let's not get hasty," Jesse said soothingly. "Just relax and we'll see how she is in the morning, alright?"

Ashlynn sighed softly, letting herself be immersed in Jesse's embrace, and nodded. "You're right, I can't just jump to conclusions. I need to just let things play out and if something happens, I'll interfere."

"Of course I'm right," Jesse teased. "I'm the Mad Scientist."

Ashlynn giggled softly. "Alright, Mad Scientist, whatever you say."

The next few hours passed comfortably for the pair as they lay cuddled in each other's arms. Fleeting caresses and sensual kisses were exchanged as they lay together, basking in each other's presence. As the night grew late, they could hear everyone else getting to sleep, Dom and Letty having convinced Luciano to get in bed earlier so Ashlynn wouldn't have to do so.

Venus, who had sat in her bed with Jericho curled up next to her, listened, waiting for everyone to go to sleep. She listened carefully as everyone retired to their rooms and waited at least thirty minutes before making her move. She grabbed the backpack she'd stuffed some clothes into after Ashlynn had left her alone with Jericho and then grabbed Johnny's keys off of her nightstand. Sure that everyone was finally asleep, Venus told Jericho to stay and carefully opened her window and carefully climbed her way down the tree that was there. She made her way around to the front of the house and walked Johnny's bike down to the gate. After opening the gate, Venus pulled on the helmet that was sitting on Johnny's bike before climbing onto said bike. Starting the bike, she revved the engine before taking off into the night, going to the only place she felt she could escape to.

Unknown to her, Ashlynn watched her sadly from her bedroom window before sighing softly and climbing back into bed with Jesse. There was nothing she could do right now and Ashlynn just had to accept that. She would deal with the aftermath in the morning, but right now, she was just so tired and wanted to sleep.


	25. Chapter 25

So, it's been a bit, but uh, here it is. I hope you like it! I really like this chapter and I hope you all like it as much as I do. I would love to hear what you think, so please review!

**Disclaimer: Refer to previous disclaimers.**

Fast and the Furious 25

Morning came faster than anyone had expected or wanted and most of the sleeping occupants had been awakened by the sound of Jericho howling, whining, and barking to be let out of Venus' room. Ashlynn stayed in bed, comfortably surrounded by her blankets and held in Jesse's arms, knowing exactly what was causing the dog's distress. She did however look at her clock on her nightstand, barely making out the numbers in her blurry vision; ten-twenty-two. That was later than she expected. She vaguely heard someone opening Venus' bedroom door, letting the dog out while simultaneously finding the short tempered girl missing. Still, she ignored the world around her as she heard what sounded like Dom yelling that Venus wasn't in her room and the window was wide open. And she ignored it when Jericho scratched at her door, only to be let in by Dom, whom she stared at blurrily.

"Baby V's gone." Dom spoke softly as Ashlynn burrowed closer to Jesse, who stretched before wrapping his arms around the dark red haired girl again, as Jericho jumped onto the bed and curled up against Ashlynn's legs, whining softly.

"I know," Ashlynn stated groggily.

"You know?"

"I know."

"How do you know?"

"She left at about ten thirty, eleven o'clock last night after she thought everyone was asleep." Ashlynn replied as Johnny appeared at the top of the stairs. "She took off on Johnny's bike."

"And you didn't think to try and stop her?" Dom asked incredulously.

"Hell no, I didn't think to stop her."

"Why not?" Johnny asked just as incredulously as Dom had.

"Because you two fucking pissed her off, that's why. She needed to get away from the two of you and I don't blame her!" Ashlynn hissed. "I want to go back to sleep, so get out!"

Meanwhile, Venus had driven down to her family's vacation home in San Diego, and even though she managed to cut the seven hour and forty-five minute drive down to just over six hours, she was still dead tired. So at about five or so in the morning, Venus crashed in her bedroom and intended on sleeping until noon, at the least. Upon arriving, Venus had been greeted by Fritz, her butler, and Rosa, her maid, they briefly informed her that everything had been well taken care of in her absence and that they were pleased to see her. She had also been happily greeted by her two dogs Roscoe, a Doberman pinscher, and Blitz, a Toy Australian Shepherd, as she walked upstairs to her room. Currently, both dogs were sleeping on her bed, on either side of her, as if guarding her.

Noon soon rolled around and Ashlynn found herself being poked awake. Groaning, Ashlynn rolled away from the person poking her and burrowed under the blankets, only for them to be ripped away from her. Sitting up slowly, mindful of her stitches, Ashlynn pushed her rat's nest hair out of her eyes to see who it was that was pestering her. Letty.

"Someone better be dying. Or I'm going to kill someone." Ashlynn grumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Dom and Johnny are at each other's throats again. About Baby V," Letty replied.

"Men," Ashlynn grumbled as she carefully extracted herself from her bed with Letty's help. "Never learn."

Letty chuckled, "You can say that again."

Ashlynn snorted, "I would, but I don't like repeating myself."

Letty snorted in reply, "Right."

"Yeah, I know, I'm a riot." Ashlynn mumbled as she made her way out of her bedroom, following Letty downstairs and into the living room. When they reached the living room, Ashlynn was trying to figure out how yelling between Dom and Johnny didn't wake her up. Sighing, Ashlynn looked between the two grown men; Johnny on the left side of the living room, being held back by Jesse and Vince, while Dom was on the right ride of the living room being held back by Leon and Torben. "What the fuck is going on?" Everyone looked over at her as she stood in the doorway, her hair still disarrayed from sleep, and a glare on her face. "Actually, don't bother answering," She said before Johnny and Dom could start defending themselves and insulting one another. "You're pissed off at each other that Venus left, I get that, but you should also be angry with yourselves. Frankly, I'm pissed off at the both of you."

The two went to protest, but Ashlynn wasn't having it. "No," She looked over at Johnny. "Just like I said last night, it's just a nickname," She turned her attention to Dom. "And you didn't need to purposefully antagonize him." She shook her head and sighed. "Venus doesn't have blood relatives left. She has me, Luciano and Silver, and at times Torben too, that was it before Race Wars. Now, she has me, Luciano, Silver, Tor, and all of you, even if she doesn't act like it; especially if she doesn't act like it." Ashlynn paused, looking between Dom and Johnny and their respected restrainers before looking over at Silver, Luciano, and Letty. "You don't know what she went through, when she lost her parents and then Xander, and sometimes I'm sure it was just too much for her, but she continues to prove every single day that she's strong enough to live on for her family. Does it get to her sometimes, yes, but does it keep her from living her life, no. She's trying to live passed everything, trying to make a family for herself, find someone to love, but you're making it difficult!" Ashlynn glared at Dom and Johnny, who had by now relaxed and been released. Crossing her arms, Ashlynn addressed Johnny. "I'm mostly angry with you. No, don't, just listen. Yes, her blood relatives are all dead, but that does not mean she has no family. Luciano, Silver and I are her family. And by extension, that makes Dom and Mia her family, as well as Letty, Vince, Leon, and Jesse, and even Torben. We are her family, blood related or not, and for you to stand there and tell her that she has no family, multiple times, hurt her a lot; so much that she fucking _ran away_. And not only did you tell her she had no family, but when Dom told you that we were her family, you told him he was wrong. He's told her that she's a part of this family and she is, whether you like it or not, so you better fucking suck it up and deal with it."

Ashlynn took a deep breath and turned to Dom, "And you, stop instigating things with him! Yes, you two apparently hate each other, no, you two don't get along, and no, we're not going to force you to. But, neither of you are going to instigate anything with the other. She cares for him Dom, a lot. Hell, she might even love him, if her lending her bracelet from Xander is anything to go by. So, you also need to suck it up and deal with it. From what I can tell, Venus is in this relationship for the long haul, so you'll have to at least be civil with each other, or just not acknowledge the other's presence. Otherwise, so help me God, I will beat the living shit out of the both of you because I'm not going to have you piss off my best friend, my sister, to the point where she has to run off to get away from you.

"Now, excuse me while I go and call someone suitable to fill in for Venus while she's gone." Ashlynn turned, mumbling about having to call Scott and inform him of what was going on, and made her way back upstairs and into her room.

When she came back downstairs, Ashlynn had her purse in hand and was talking on her cellphone. "Yes, I understand. You'll be paid for your services for however long we'll be gone. No, I can't tell you how long it will be, but for the duration of your stay, you're welcome to stay at the house. Silver will be here, yes. Yes, I appreciate this very much, thank you." She hung up and turned her attention to the current residents of her home. "I'm going to San Francisco, I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Is that where Venus is?" Johnny asked hopefully.

"No," Ashlynn replied with a short glare.

"Then what are you going to San Francisco for?" A few of them asked.

"I like the mall." Ashlynn deadpanned.

"Mamma, can I come?" Luciano asked with hopeful excitement.

"Go get your shoes." Ashlynn acquiesced with a small smile.

"Wait a minute," Dom spoke up. "We have no idea where Baby V is and you're just going off to San Francisco?"

"Correction; _you_ have no idea where Venus is," Ashlynn countered. "_I_ on the other hand, know exactly where she's at. And no, I'm not going to tell you."

"But why not?" Johnny sputtered with barely veiled angry confusion.

Ashlynn glared. "Did you not understand a damn thing I said before? You hurt her, you made her run away, I'm not just going to let you go to where she's hiding. She needs some time to herself and you're going to give her that. She needs to cool off and if she isn't back within a couple days, then we'll go." With that, she turned and walked to the garage as Luciano came downstairs.

"Mind if I join you two?" Ashlynn heard Jesse ask as she was helping Luciano get buckled up in her car.

"Of course you can join us." She replied with a smile.

The hour long drive passed with happy conversation and excitement. When they finally arrived, Luciano was bouncing in his seat, eager to get out and explore. The trio wandered the Hallidie Plaza, going from storefront to storefront as they made their way up and down the streets. They wandered the mall, sometimes going into to stores and purchasing something or other before they continued on. They went back to the parking garage they'd parked the car and dropped off their purchases before they returned to wandering the city. Making their way to the Wharf, Ashlynn purchased chocolate from _Chocolate Haven_ before they continued along the pier, where Ashlynn bought a sourdough bowl from _Chowder's_ for them to share. After exploring and seeing the sea lions, the trio left the Wharf and found themselves down California Street when Ashlynn's phone rang.

"Hey V," She greeted. "What's going on? Do you need me to come down?...Oh? Well, Luc, Jess, and I are in San Fran, you know, just wandering. We're gonna hit the Grace Cathedral soon... Uh huh, yeah, I figured you could use some time to yourself instead of us barging in on you unannounced... Yeah, I'm sure that Dom and Johnny are annoyed with me. I got a replacement for your lessons until you get back too, and I informed Scott, seeing as we didn't last time we left." She laughed softly. "Definitely... We'll be down in a few days if you don't come back... Don't whine at me.. Alright, I'll walk the Labyrinth for you. Mhmm, no problem. Love you, Bestest Best Friend."

"She alright?" Jesse asked after Ashlynn hung up.

"Yeah, she just needs some time to herself, wrap her head around everything, you know?" Ashlynn replied, munching on part of the bread bowl now that its contents were gone.

Jesse smiled at her, "You're a good friend, you know that?"

Ashlynn smiled back, "Yeah, I know, even if I'm not always appreciated."

Jesse let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and kissing her softly. Ashlynn smiled against Jesse's lips as she returned the kiss, sucking gently on Jesse's lower lip before pulling away and Luciano made mock grossed out noises.

"Ew, mommy, don't do that," Luciano giggled.

Ashlynn smiled and leaned down to kiss her son's forehead. "Sorry Bambino."

"You two have a beautiful son," An elder woman that had paused as she was walking passed remarked.

Jesse looked a little surprised and as though he was going to correct her when Ashlynn spoke. "Thank you. We like to think so too."

The woman smiled and continued on her way while Ashlynn, Jesse, and Luciano resumed walking towards their destination.

"Mamma?"

"Yes Bambino?"

"Does this mean I get to call Jesse Papà?"

Jesse seemed shocked, flabergasted really, as he looked down at Luciano and then over to Ashlynn, who was smiling softly.

"You know, I think you should ask Jesse, not me." Ashlynn replied softly.

Luciano turned to Jesse, "Can I?" He asked shyly, causing Jesse to smile.

"Sure kiddo." Jesse replied as they arrived at the cathedral.

Luciano beamed, grabbing Jesse's free hand and pulling him into the cathedral excitedly with Ashlynn following at a more sedate pace after them. She liked to take in everything about this cathedral, there was just something about it that she really liked, and she tried to absorb as much of it as she could every time she visited it. When she entered, she saw Luciano pulling Jesse towards the Labyrinth on the floor of the cathedral; Luc liked to walk it just because he could.

"What is it exactly?" Jesse asked as Ashlynn walked up to them.

"It's a Labyrinth." Ashlynn replied. "Go on Luc."

"So, what do you do?" Jesse asked, watching as Luciano started to walk along the path.

"You walk it," Ashlynn replied softly. "You walk it with an open mind and an open heart, it's a singular path that winds and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives."

"You sound like a brochure," Jesse joked with a smile.

Ashlynn laughed softly. "That's partly what is on their brochure."

"Oh really? What else is on their brochure?"

"No sure, I don't remember too much of it, but I do know that there are three stages to the walk. Purgation, or releasing, you let go of the details in your life, shed your thoughts and distractions, and open your heart and quiet your mind. Illumination, or receiving, this is when you reach the center, you stay there as long as you like and meditate or pray and receive what you're there to receive. Union, or returning, you obviously follow the same path out as you did walking in, some people join to God or a Higher Power, others connect to the Healing Forces at work. You can walk it at any pace, move around people or let the pass you, just depends on what feels natural for you." Ashlynn explained, stepping to the side to allow a few people step onto the Labyrinth path. "I find it to be very calming, I like it a lot. So does Venus. Every time we come up this way, we always stop here because she and I like it so much."

"So, when you told Baby V you'd walk it for her, this is what you meant," Jesse asked softly.

"Yeah, she walks it a couple times every visit. Lot on her mind, you know?"

"Yeah."

Ashlynn smiled at Jesse before she took a deep breath and exhaled as she began walking the Labyrinth at a slow, even pace. Jesse watched as she seemed at total ease, letting people pass her now and again before reaching the center. He noticed that Luciano was prancing back out of the Labyrinth, skipping and jumping passed people before landing in front of Jesse. Jesse smiled as Luciano grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the Labyrinth's path.

While the trio was enjoying their time in San Francisco, Johnny and Dom were still freaking out over the fact that they had no idea where Venus was. Torben, Letty, Leon, and Vince weren't too worried, Ashlynn had said she knew exactly where Venus was, so they trusted her to know that Venus was fine. Silver, who also knew where Venus was at, didn't let worry get to her. She knew her friend would be fine and could take care of herself, besides, she highly doubted that Venus wanted them all barging in on her.

Venus on the other hand, was taking the time to relax. She had woken up at around three in the afternoon and found that Rosa and Fritz had prepared food for her, which she had only picked at and then fed it to Roscoe and Blitz, and informed her that they had already fed the animals and had overseen the gardeners taking care of the expansive grounds. Now, she was sitting out by her large lake sun bathing and calling Ashlynn.

"Hey Ash, nothing much, just sun bathing. And no, I don't need you to come down. I'm rather surprised you all haven't showed up already, and since you're not here, what _are_ you doing?...I like San Francisco, thanks for not just showing up. I'm sure that no one was very happy with that decision." Venus' face dropped as she listened to Ashlynn. "I totally forgot about that. Scott's not going to be happy with me. Thanks for telling him though... But Aaasssshhhlyyynnnnn!... Fine, I'll tell Fritz and Rosa to expect visitors. Walk the Labyrinth for me? Thanks... Love you too Bestest Best Friend."

Sighing to herself, Venus relaxed back into her lounge chair and let the sun beat down on her and warm her. If she was going to have to deal with them barging in on her in her own home, she might as well relax now. Roscoe and Blitz were laying on either side of her, soaking up the sun as well, munching on the food Venus was feeding them; little bite sized sandwiches that Rosa had made for her to nibble at until dinner, that she most likely wouldn't eat.

Ashlynn, Jesse, and Luciano went to Japantown and had dinner in one of the restaurants before heading back home with leftovers and food ordered for everyone else back at the house. They got home at seven thirty and found everyone getting ready to heat up the minimal leftovers that were in the fridge.

"We have food," Ashlynn announced as she danced into the kitchen, presenting the group with the boxed and bagged food. "However, if we need more drinkage, a trip to the store will be needed."

"Tiny took care of getting more drinks." Leon informed her as the group picked through the bags, finding what was what and splitting the food amongst themselves.

"Okie dokie then," Ashlynn said with a smile before dancing towards the back door. "I'm going to go sit out by the pool."

She got murmurs from each of them as she walked outside, only to be joined moments later by Jesse. She smiled at him before stretching her muscles and then laying her head on his shoulder. She stayed like that for a few moments before she noticed something on the overhang.

"Did you guys have crab at some point?" She asked, glancing at Jesse.

"Ah, yeah, we did. Tiny mentioned this crabbed stuffed zucchini thing or something to Mia and Mia wanted to make them. There was quite a bit of crab legs leftover. Why?" Jesse asked curiously.

"Because there's a chunk of crab on the over hang." Ashlynn pointed to it before moving towards the pool with a shake of her head. "I bet it was Venus." She murmured before rolling up her pant legs and sitting down at the edge of the pool and dipping her legs into it.

Jesse sat down near her, wrapping an arm around her and carefully resting his chin on her shoulder as he chuckled. "I think I remember hearing her say something about you not appreciating that."

Ashlynn snorted, "And yet she didn't do anything to clean it up. Probably figured a bird would come get it. Can't say I blame her, I wouldn't want to try and clean that and fall or something."

Jesse smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Ashlynn's cheek, neither aware that they were being watched by everyone in the house.

"They're good for each other." Torben spoke softly, eating some of the teriyaki chicken and rice on his plate.

"They are," Letty agreed.

"Mamma love Papà," Luciano spoke up from his seat between Vince and Dom.

"Papà?" The group chorused.

"Yeah," Luciano said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "A lady told Mamma that she and Papà that they had a beautiful son and Mamma said that they liked to think so. And I asked if that meant that I could call Jesse Papà and he said yes."

The group was a bit surprised, but a couple of them smiled at the revelation.


	26. Chapter 26

Finally, I have Chapter 26 finished! I have to say, I've rewritten this chapter three times before I was satisfied with it. And I wanted and needed to make sure that I had it posted for today! And even though I missed my Midnight deadline for myself, I'm still posting this in the VERY early morning hours of Halloween. I love Halloween, it's a great holiday!

Anyways, I hope that everyone likes this chapter! Took a while to get it just right. And even still, I don't like parts of it. It seems too rushed or like it doesn't make sense to have what happened happen. If that makes any sense whatsoever. It's currently 1:05 in the morning here and I'm kinda of seeing two screens. So if there are any grammar mistakes or such, pardon them and tell me I shall fix them!

**Disclaimer: Don't own Fast and the Furious.**

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!**

Enjoy.

Fast and the Furious 26

Ashlynn managed to hold off Dom and Johnny for a week and two days before they finally drove her crazy enough to agree to take them to where Venus was staying. She had called Venus when they left informing her that they were coming so that Venus could be prepared. They were almost there now, having made a pit stop at a local bakery to get chocolate cupcakes for Johnny and Dom to give to Venus as a means to appease her and get her to forgive them. When they finally pulled up to the house, Ashlynn knew that the group was going to be impressed by Venus' house, though, Manor might be a more appropriate description. Ashlynn clicked the button that opened up the door corresponding to her garage, there were more than ten in all, and quickly parked and cut the engine before getting out and stretching. Grabbing her purse from the backseat, Ashlynn locked and closed her door before walking out of the garage with Jesse and closing the garage to see everyone looking at Venus' house in varying levels of surprised envy. Ashlynn could understand though, the place was huge. The house was four stories high, on a plot of about thirty-two acres, a large guesthouse, a stable, a lake and a pond, and at least ten garages. The combination of French and Traditional design made the house look imposingly beautiful.

"You're never going to want to leave," Ashlynn informed them with a smirk as she began walking towards the brick curved staircase that led up the the front door. Upon opening the door, she was greeted by Roscoe and Blitz who both growled softly until they recognized her. "Ah, Roscoe, Blitz! Good dogs, guarding the house. Guess who's here to see you!" She turned to the still open door and called, "Jericho, komm!" Seconds later, the sound of claws clicking on the bricks before Jericho appeared in the doorway and was swarmed by Roscoe and Blitz, all three making noises at each other until everyone else showed up at the top of the steps, causing Roscoe and Blitz to growl loudly.

"Nice dogs," Letty remarked sarcastically.

"Setz!" Ashlynn ordered, causing Roscoe and Blitz to quiet their growling and sit on either side of her.

"I thought German commands only worked with German Shepherds," Jesse mumbled as he stared at the dogs.

Ashlynn shrugged, "They picked up on it after Jericho's training, they don't always listen, to me at least, but they listen enough."

"Miss Ashlynn?" She heard a female voice speak from behind her.

"Ah, Rosa!" Ashlynn cried after she turned around. "It's good to see you!"

"And you as well, Miss Ashlynn," Rosa replied with a smile. "Miss Venus has informed us that you would be arriving with friends, she is out at the lake, there are snacks left out on the counter and dinner will be ready at five. The guesthouse has been aired out for your friends and your room has been prepared."

"Ah, you didn't have to do that, but thank you," Ashlynn said with a smile. "We'll just go into the kitchen and then go find Venus."

"Of course, Miss Ashlynn." Rosa said with a smile before she disappeared down the hall.

Ashlynn led the way down to the first floor and into the large kitchen, which she thought was nicer than hers, but who was she to judge? True to Rosa's word, there were snacks on the counter and Ashlynn grabbed the entire plate of cucumber and avocado mini sandwiches. "Mine, don't touch!" She said as she greedily stuff one in her mouth. She waited long enough for the others to take what they wanted before leading the way out into the backyard and trekking to the lake down passed the stable. "Oooooh Veeeeeenuuuuuussss!" She called as they came up to the lake where Venus appeared to be sunbathing.

"You're here already?" Venus grumbled as she covered her bikini clad body with her towel before anyone could see the scars covering her midsection.

"Oh boohoo, I tried stalling them longer, but Johnny and Dom started to drive me crazy."

"You're already crazy."

"Crazier."

"Sounds about right."

Ashlynn rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yeah, yeah. You're just as crazy as I am, thank you very much."

"Says you," Venus countered.

"Damn right says me."

"Who all is here anyways?"

"Just Johnny, Dom, Jesse, and Letty. Luciano and Torben have school, Silver's packing, Leon stayed to be with Tor, and Vince stayed to help with Luciano I believe."

"Oh. Ok." Venus mumbled as she stood up.

Ashlynn smiled, "So, Jesse and I are going to go back up to the house and take my stuff to my room." And with that, the two started walking away.

"What are those?" Venus asked, eying the box in Johnny's hand.

"We thought you might like some cupcakes," Dom replied as Johnny held the box out to her.

Venus secured her towel around her body before accepting the box and opening it to find twelve chocolate cupcakes inside. "Yummy." She mumbled as she closed the box. "I'll have to put them in the fridge so they don't spoil." She led the way back up to the house, where she put the cupcakes in the fridge before disappearing up to her room to change. When she reappeared, she had Ashlynn and Jesse with her. "So, I suppose a tour is in order," She mumbled before she did just that, showing them the entire house, bedrooms, bathrooms, game room, cinema room, the dining room, and eventually back to the kitchen. The entire tour had taken so much time that dinner was ready and when everyone had sat down, Grace was said and everyone filled their plates. Once Venus had filled her plate, she disappeared off to her room, saying that she wanted to eat alone, which caused Ashlynn to sigh sadly. After dinner was eaten, Rosa and Fritz cleared the dishes and Ashlynn showed Johnny, Dom, and Letty to the guesthouse before retreating to her room with Jesse.

To Ashlynn's dismay, the next few days passed in the same manner; every time food was served, Venus always took it to her room. It bothered Ashlynn, because the last time Venus had sequestered herself off in her room like this, it had been after Xander's death, and she hadn't eaten in that entire time. But there wasn't anything Ashlynn could do to prove her theory. Today, she caught Venus in the living room and sat down with her on the couch, staring unseeingly at the television.

"What's wrong V?"

"It's October today," Venus replied softly.

"So it is," Ashlynn said just as softly as she reached out and squeezed one of Venus' hands.

"I thought I'd have Xander's car done by now," Venus mumbled, finally turning to look at Ashlynn.

"Come back to my house and work on it then," Ashlynn said with a shrug.

"Not ready." Venus muttered apathetically.

"Well, it'll be there for you to work on when you are then." Ashlynn declared.

"Guess so," Venus muttered.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watch. Johnny had been passing the living room when he'd heard them talking Xander's car. He'd never actually seen the car, but he knew how special it was to Venus. And that's when it hit him, it was a great idea he thought as he went off in search of Dom. During the next few days, Dom and Johnny could be seen whispering to one another or into a phone about something or other. At one point, Johnny went missing for most of the day, only showing up after dark. And a day or two later Dom disappeared.

"Letty, you know what Dom and Johnny are up to?" Ashlynn asked on Saturday as they sat at the counter in the kitchen munching on leftover muffins.

"Every time I ask Dom, he says it's a surprise." Letty replied. "I'm just surprised that the two of them aren't trying to kill each other."

Ashlynn snorted, staring out the window, watching Venus, who was beginning to wear baggier and baggier clothing, as she rode one of the horses at a leisurely pace along one of the trails nearer to the house. "Me too. I'm seriously curious as to what they're up to."

The next week passed in the same manner, increasing the women's curiosity, Jesse on the other hand, seemed to be content not knowing. This Saturday was Torben's birthday, October 13th and everyone else was coming down to celebrate together. Venus was in the kitchen baking up a cake for Torben, insisting that they weren't going to just buy a store cake. Johnny had disappeared before dawn and Ashlynn was highly curious as to where the hell he was going, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Johnny grinned as he drove down the now familiar roads to get to Venus' house in San Diego, everything was going according to plan. The car was finished, down to the very last detail for the paint job, and now he was going to surprise Venus with it. He could only hope that everything from here on out would go without a hitch. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled through the gate and saw Dom walking outside, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was following him.

"Venus is putting the finishing touched on Torben's cake," Dom informed Johnny as he got out of the Explorer with Leon, Torben, and Myka.

"Perfect." Johnny mumbled going to the trailer where he and Dom carefully extracted Xander's finished car. Everything was done, down to the last detail from Venus' paint plans, the car was painted dark gray with black racing stripes and written in the stripes in ice blue fancy lettering was _In Loving Memory Of_ on the right one and on the left one was Xander's full name with the years of birth and death written in subscript. Johnny placed a small black box in the glove compartment and the two of them covered it with a tarp before following the others inside, leading them into the kitchen where Rosa and Fritz had set out snack foods of all sorts. Venus had just finished the words on the cake and put it in the empty space in the fridge when they all entered.

"Happy birthday Torben!" She cried as she saw the tall teen, launching herself at him to give him a hug.

"Thanks V," Torben grinned as he returned the hug.

"Little Lotus, can I talk to you?" Johnny whispered to Ashlynn, waiting until he got a nod before dragging her out into the backyard and away from the door in order to not accidentally be overheard.

"What's going on? Where have you and Dom been disappearing to lately?" Ashlynn shot at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'd like to ask you for something first," Johnny said, raising his hands in a surrendered manner. "I've already asked your other friend, Silver, she said yes, and now I'm asking you. I know that I've not known your friend very long, but I'd like to ask for her hand in marriage and I would like your permission to do so. I'm asking you and Silver since her brother isn't here for me to ask."

Ashlynn's jaw dropped. "That's where you've been disappearing to? But wait, what does Dom have to do with this?"

"We finished fixing Xander's car," Johnny replied softly.

Ashlynn's eye widened a fraction and she smiled softly. "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

Johnny smiled, "Yes, actually. It started out just as a way for Venus to forgive the two of us, but then I started thinking about it, I thought it would be the perfect way to propose."

Ashlynn nodded, "I see. Well, in place of Xander, I give you my permission to ask for Venus' hand in marriage."

Johnny grinned, "Thank you."

"Of course, you better make her happy though." Ashlynn said before turning to go back inside.

"I intend to." Johnny told her as he followed her inside where everyone was talking and laughing, even Venus, though it seemed a little strained. After everyone had eaten most of the snack foods, Johnny approached Venus. "Can I speak with you? Please." Venus looked like she was arguing with herself before she nodded, allowing him to lead her out the true front door to the little courtyard with the stair fountain. "I want to apologize, first and foremost," Johnny began softly. "I overreacted to a nickname given to you by someone who cares about you. I, then, proceeded to shove in your face your lack of blood related family, repeatedly. I shouldn't have done that. It was insensitive. You know better than anyone what your situation is. I will just have to accept that you consider Toretto family and deal with it. We used to be friends, me and them, maybe we can be again. Second, I would like to tell you that Toretto and I have been working on a surprise for you, no doubt you've noticed our absences." Venus nodded as he continued. "Well, we brought that surprise for you today and I'd like to show you." He told her as he directed her down the drive to where everyone had parked their respectively driven cars. Her attention was immediately directed to the tarp covered car, not even noticing that everyone else had gathered on the brick stairs. Johnny led Venus over to the tarp covered car and nodded at it. "Uncover it."

Venus looked up at Johnny, then back down at the car, before reaching out a shaking hand and pulling the tarp from it. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to shed them as she took in Xander's car. It was exactly how she pictured the car to look when it would be finished.

"Toretto and I worked on it with the others up at Ashlynn's house to get it done as soon as possible." Johnny informed her as he watched her take in the car's details. "There's a little something extra in the glove compartment that you might want to take a look at though."

Venus looked at Johnny curiously before walking around to the passenger side door and reverently pulling the door open and carefully sliding into the seat so that she sat with one leg in the car and the other outside the car. As Johnny walked up to the door, Venus pulled the glove compartment open gently. Sitting in the middle of the compartment, all by itself, was a little black box and Venus' hand shook again as she reached for it. Picking it up, she looked at it curiously before looking at Johnny just a curiously.

"Open it, if you don't like it, we can go get a different one." Johnny whispered to her, watching as she did so. Venus' eyes went wide as she saw what rested inside the little box. It was a Venetian-5032R engagement ring. Johnny knelt next to her. "I know that I've only known you for a short time, a very short time in fact, but in the time I've known you, I've found that I don't want to live without you. I know that I upset you and drove you to coming down here just to get away, and that you're probably still mad at me," He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. "No, it's understandable. I would be too if I were you. I deserve it. But I'm asking, if you could find it within yourself to forgive me, and I hope you can," He paused and smiled at her nervously. "I asked both Ashlynn and your friend Silver for their permission since I am unable to ask your brother. Toretto has informed me that if I hurt you, I'll have to deal with him, but something tells me that you'll probably beat him to it." He chuckled. "Venus, Eva Christiana Giovanna Russo, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Venus stared at Johnny in a surprised silence, processing everything that he'd said to her. She blink and looked down at the ring, vaguely aware of the tears trailing down her cheeks as she gently touched the ring. She looked back up at Johnny with a small smile. "Yes." She whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Johnny grinned and gently took the box from her hands and pulled the engagement ring from its holder and slid it onto her finger. "You like it then?" He asked as he leaned towards her.

Venus laughed softly, "Yeah, I like it." She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his and was surprised to hear everyone cry out happily. When they pulled away, Venus looked up to the stairs and was embarrassed to see that everyone was standing there watching them. Turning back to Johnny, she smiled shyly. "How long have they been standing there?"

"Probably the entire time, I didn't notice."

"And why's that?"

"I was entirely too focused on you," He replied cheekily.

Venus laughed. "Smooth."

Johnny stood and helped her from the car and carefully shut the door before leading her towards the group. Congratulations were given by everyone and they all returned inside, with Venus giving one last look to Xander's car with a sad smile. The rest of the after noon was spent drinking champagne, wine, and cider in celebration of the engagement and Torben's birthday. Everyone was happy and for the first time in weeks, Venus nibbled on food in front of Ashlynn and the others, not ever eating a whole piece of anything, but it satisfied Ashlynn. Leon and Torben were given the guesthouse for the night and Johnny was moved into Venus' room while everyone else had been given rooms for the night. The next morning after breakfast, during which a fair number of the group looked highly satisfied, most of the group left, for Venus wasn't ready to leave yet. Therefore only Ashlynn, Dom, Letty, and Johnny stayed.

In the next few weeks, which had passed happily, Venus had been called by the Sargent in Los Angeles to inform them that the charges against Dominic and the Team had been dropped, something said by Marcos and Lance had cleared them apparently. Venus and Ashlynn didn't quite believe it, but they were happy nonetheless, and so was the rest of the Team when they were informed.

They were finally leaving, going back up to Ashlynn's house, everything was great, the team was mostly cleared of the charges, Marcos was in jail, so was Lance, everyone was happy, and it was Halloween. But perhaps that detail made it not such a happy day. This morning, everyone from Ashlynn's house had shown up at the crack of dawn, having driven the long drive to have a short celebration together before they set off so that they could be back at Ashlynn's house in time for Luciano to get ready for Trick-or-Treating. As the group of vehicles maneuvered through the streets of San Diego, Ashlynn was in the middle of telling Jesse about the time Venus' parents had invited her and Silver to come down with them for summer break one year, when she blinked and noticed that Venus' newly restored car was no longer in the group behind her.

"Where the hell did she go?" Ashlynn muttered before pulling out her cell phone and dialing Dom's number. "Hey, did you see where Venus went?"

"No, I thought she was still behind me."

"Damn it." Ashlynn paused. "Shit, today's Halloween, isn't it?"

"Yes it is," Dom replied, about to ask why when it dawned on him. "Shit."

"Guess we're taking a detour." Ashlynn said before hanging up and making a u-turn at the next light.

"What's going on?" Jesse asked worriedly, watching as Ashlynn gripped the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip.

"Today is Halloween." Ashlynn said softly. "God, how could I be stupid enough to forget?"

"What's the importance of Halloween?" Jesse asked.

"It's Uncle Xander's birthday," Luciano said softly from the backseat. While never having met his Uncle, Luciano knew it was a very important day, no matter how much he liked the fun of dressing up and going Trick-or-Treating. Last year, when Ashlynn and Luciano got back from Trick-or-Treating, they found Venus in the kitchen with a bottle of Jack Daniels mumbling to someone they couldn't see, it had sounded like she was having a conversation with Xander. Luciano remembered that it had made Mamma very sad and she'd gone over and carefully taken the bottle from Venus' hand and wrapped the girl in a hug. Luciano remembered hearing his Aunt cry for the first time and had gone over and tugged on her shirt to get her attention, only to hand her a package of Reese's to try and cheer her up. He'd gotten a sad smile out of her and a hug for his efforts. He also knew that, even though his Mamma never told anyone, he had two middle names, his full name was Luciano Seraphim Christiano Toretto. Mamma didn't use his second middle name, not that she used his first middle name much either, because she knew that it would probably make Auntie Venus sad. Nonetheless, it made Luciano feel special.

Thirty minutes later, the group pulled into the cemetery, and parked around Venus' car. As everyone got out of the car, Ashlynn motioned for them all to stay at the cars while she walked towards the girl kneeling next to a headstone. She maneuvered her way around other headstones, careful not to walk on the graves, until she reached Venus and knelt next to her, listening as Venus talked to the headstone, explaining everything that had happened lately.

"Are you going to be alright?" Ashlynn whispered, taking in the empty look on Venus' face.

"You think it'll ever stop hurting?" Venus asked softly.

Ashlynn frowned. "I would like to think so, but something tells me that it'll never stop hurting. The pain will dull, but it'll never stop hurting."

Venus sighed lightly. "Sometimes I can't believe he's gone. I expect him to just pop up out of nowhere and ask me what I'm doing."

"Me too," Ashlynn whispered, her throat tightening up on her as her eyes started prickling with tears at seeing her friend so sad with unshed tears in her eyes. "I keep waiting for him to just barg in and plop down on the couch and ask 'What's for dinner? Do I need to go to the store?' as he turns the television on."

Venus let out a watery laugh. "I remember that day."

"It was a good day."

"Yes it was." Venus sighed, closing her eyes and warding off her tears. "I miss him so much, you know."

"I know Venus, I miss him too."

"Sometimes, I wish that I had died with him, or that I had died instead of him."

Ashlynn sniffed as her tears leaked out of her eyes and down her face. "I probably would too if I was you."

"He's all I had left," Venus choked out, finally allowing her tears to fall as Ashlynn embraced her.

"I know V, I know."

"Sometimes I get so mad at him for leaving me, but then I have to remind myself that I'm the one who told him to let go." Venus took a deep breath, "Sometimes, I think I see him. I'll turn or something and I see him, but when I turn back to look there's nothing. I've played it off as just a trick of the light, but I know I've seen him."

"He's watching over you Venus. You're still his baby sister. He's always going to watch over you." Ashlynn told her softly.

"Thanks Ash," Venus whispered as she pulled away and wiped her face.

"You gonna be ok to drive by yourself?" Ashlynn asked.

Venus snorted, "I'm not a fucking invalid, Ash."

Ashlynn laughed softly. "Alright, alright. Let's go, yeah?"

Venus sighed softly, touching the bouquet of flowers Ashlynn hadn't noticed before. Damn, Venus must have disappeared early on to have gone and purchased a bouquet consisting of white clover, rosemary, lavender delphinium, and cherry blossoms, which Ashlynn remembered was what made up Venus' tattoo along her left side. Why hadn't Ashlynn noticed Venus' disappearing act? Oh well, Venus was found, that's all that matters. And now they were going back to Ashlynn's house in San Jose.

"Happy birthday, Xander." Venus whispered and Ashlynn echoed her before they both stood and walked arm in arm to the cars where everyone was waiting. Venus allowed herself to be embraced by everyone before they all got in their respective cars and drove off.

It was about five o'clock when they returned to Ashlynn's home. Ashlynn immediately went to help Luciano get ready for Trick-or-Treating. He was going to be Louis from Interview With the Vampire. Ashlynn didn't expect to get many Trick-or-Treaters, but had bought candy anyways and set it out after Luciano was ready thirty minutes later. Ashlynn was dressed as Xena: Warrior Princess with a heavy cloak in case it got cold and Jesse, who had opted to go along with them, was dressed as Hercules to sort of match. It was a tad amusing to see Jesse, the Mad Scientist, dressed up at Hercules, but it was cute. With the trio ready, everyone bid them to have fun and they were off. The rest of the large group was having a sort of freedom celebration, passing out candy to the few Trick-or-Treaters there were coming to the house, which had been decorated by Torben and Luciano with help from Leon and Vince.

By ten, Ashlynn, Jesse, and Luciano were walking in the door with quite the haul for the young boy. Apparently, he made a quite vampire and people just couldn't resist giving him candy. Luciano changed for bed and Ashlynn helped him wash off the costume make up to make sure he got everything. After that was finished, Luciano dug through his large haul and cried victoriously when he found the candy he was looking for before bounding into the living room and jumping on the couch next to Venus, who looked at him curiously. Luciano held out his hand, revealing the pack of Reese's he'd found just for her, smiling proudly at having remembered what he'd done last year, thus creating a new tradition that would continue for years to come. Venus smiled softly and hugged Luciano tightly, whispering a soft thank you in his ear before he bounded up the stairs to bed.


	27. Chapter 27

Hey everyone, SOOOO sorry it took forever for me to get this chapter out... I was working out some kinks in the storyline and such, and then I just got distracted by other things, and then I wanted to make the chapter uber long and awesome, but that didn't work out the way I planned and Venus, my oh so awesome best friend was pestering me to post what I have, and so now I am FINALLY posting it.

Hope you all enjoy!

**Disclaimer: As previously mentioned, I do NOT own anything you recognize from the Fast and Furious original plot line and such.**

Fast and the Furious 27

In the days that followed Halloween, Ashlynn and Vince had had their stitches removed and Vince had started physical therapy for the damage done to his arm. It was slow going, but isn't that how it normally goes? So while Vince added physical therapy to the list of things he was actually able to do during the day, Luciano was going to school, Dom, Letty, Jesse, and Leon were working on cars, Venus was continuing to give riding lessons, and Ashlynn was beginning dance sessions again. Johnny had informed them that he was going to have to be down in Los Angeles for family business, but would be back up soon and Mia was calling every few days, when not swamped by her school work. And through it all, Ashlynn still hadn't heard anything from the police department about the man who had injured Luciano, she in turn contacted her lawyer.

It was decided that they would celebrate Silver's birthday early seeing as she would be gone by the time the twelfth came around. And while preparations were being taken care of for that, no one noticed that Venus still wasn't eating. When Johnny had mentioned to Venus how it seemed she'd lost weight, she just told him that it was a diet she was trying, and he didn't bring it up again. When Sunday rolled around, Venus could be found making all sorts of different dishes for Silver's birthday celebration. While still angry with her friend, Venus wasn't going to just ignore the other girl, unless Silver decided to ignore her first. When everyone slowly, but surely made their way into the kitchen, they found the counter to be full of different foods while Venus was at the stove making more.

"V, not that I'm complaining, don't you think you've made enough food?" Ashlynn asked groggily as she pulled down one of the handmade coffee mugs she'd made in high school; it was slightly wonky shaped, but it served its purpose well.

"We're celebrating S's birthday," Was all Venus said.

"Do you plan on eating anything in celebration of S's birthday?" Ashlynn countered; it seemed that maybe someone had continued to notice Venus' lack of food intake.

"Sure," V answered absentmindedly with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

"Uh huh, I'll believe it when I see it," Ashlynn grumbled as she poured herself coffee, slowly followed by everyone else; good thing they had invested in two more coffee pots, even though they went through three times as much coffee this way.

"Eat up!" Venus ordered as she took the last pan off the stove.

Ashlynn shared a look with Silver and rolled her eyes before grabbing a plate for Luciano and filling it with a variety of the food that littered the counters. "Damn V, I think you could feed the homeless shelter with all this food," She muttered as she fixed another plate for herself, setting Luciano's on the table before pouring another cup of coffee for Jesse who was sitting at the table with his head resting on the wood surface.

While every one else made their plates and took places at the table, Johnny slid up behind Venus and pressed a kiss to her temple before grabbing up a plate and filling it with a little of everything, determined to try everything that Venus had made. Ashlynn had convinced Jesse to sit up and then proceeded to slide into his lap to keep him from laying his head back down and dozing off again. She noticed how Letty sidled up next to Dom, leaning against him as she sipped at her coffee, and how Venus was dragged into Johnny's lap and he was getting her to nibble on a few things after Grace was said.

After breakfast was eaten, Venus was banned from the kitchen while Ashlynn and Jesse cleaned the mess left behind. Ashlynn had adamantly refused to let Venus into the kitchen, going so far as to ban Venus outside for the next few hours. During that time, Venus amused herself with grooming the horses. When Ashlynn allowed Venus back in the house, lunch was on the table; pizza and sushi, two of the foods Silver liked most, with the choice of tempura and rice or teriyaki chicken and rice.

"You guys have strange combination tastes," Dom remarked as they sat at the table.

"We know," The three girl's chorused.

Grace was said, this time by Torben, and everyone was in high spirits as they ate; even Venus ate a few pieces of chicken. By the time everyone had finished eating and the leftovers put away, Luciano had dragged Silver's present into the kitchen. The young boy was insisting that Silver open her present so that they could have cake. Silver smiled softly and indulged Luciano by picking the present up and ripping the paper off. Now sitting in her lap was a paint set with oil paints that you had to mix, a palette and palette knife, brushes, and a collapsible easel; there was also a gift card for one hundred dollars worth of art supplies inside as well.

"It's a gift from all of us," Ashlynn spoke up softly. "There are canvases in my room, too, but we didn't think that we should wrap them with paper and possibly rip the canvas."

"Thank you, very much," Silver said with a soft, embarrassed smile.

"You're welcome," Venus said, a grin on her face as she crossed her arms and laid them on the table, resting her head on her arms.

"After hearing that you're going to some fancy art school, we figured you could use the supplies." Dom told her with a shrug.

"The store ships all over, so if you ever run out of something, all you have to so is order more." Letty informed her with a smile.

"Time for cake now!" Luciano cried, bouncing in his seat causing everyone to chuckle at his antics.

Venus stood and pulled a tray from the freezer. On said tray were four large ice cream sandwich looking cakes. One had mint chocolate chip filling, another had pomegranate filling, the one next to it had strawberry, and the last one had plain vanilla. After setting the tray on the table in front of Silver; which had been cleared of wrapping paper and the present, Venus grabbed candles, sticking five in three of them and six in the last one. Ashlynn lit the candles and then everyone was singing 'Happy Birthday' to Silver before Luciano told her to make a wish before blowing out her candles. Once the candles were blown out, Venus brought over a large knife, handing it to Silver to cut her own piece. After Silver handed the knife back, Venus made sure everyone got a piece of what they wanted, informing everyone that she didn't want a piece because her stomach was hurting as she put the tray back in the freezer. The rest of the afternoon and evening passed without incident and soon enough, Monday rolled around and Ashlynn and Venus were going to the airport with Silver.

The drive to the airport was silent, none of them talking or bothering to turn on the radio. When they arrived at the airport, it was incredibly crowded, as per usual, and it took them ten minutes to find a parking spot and unload Silver's things, and then another twenty minutes to get Silver checked in. Ten minutes was spent in a sad silence before Ashlynn wrapped Silver in a hug, bidding the shorter girl goodbye and telling her to keep in touch and that if she needed anything, or forgot something, just to say something and they'd get it to her. When Ashlynn stepped back, Venus stepped forward and wrapped a hesitant Silver in a hug, not sure if Venus was still angry with her or not. Venus mumbled about how she didn't understand why Silver couldn't have attended one of the art colleges in California and just gone to visit her mom and sister, but there was no heat behind her words. Silver smiled softly and hugged Venus tightly, knowing that she had been forgiven, if only a little bit, and that her friend didn't hate her.

"C'mon Bestest Best Friend, let's go home." Ashlynn said after Silver had gone off to her gate.

"Our Trio is now a Duo," Venus commented as they made their way back to the Explorer.

"Indeed it is, Venus, indeed it is," Ashlynn murmured as they came up to the car.

The ride back to Ashlynn's house was mostly silent, the only noise was the music that Venus turned on. Ashlynn could vaguely hear Venus singing along as they drove. Rather than cooking tonight, the two had decided to pick up sandwiches, stopping at both Subway and Togo's to get a bunch of said sandwiches. When they returned home, they were bombarded by everyone for food.

"Oi! Back off!" Ashlynn snapped. "Let us get into the kitchen, please!"

"Sorry Baby Girl," Dom grinned unrepentantly. "We're just hungry."

"Yeah, well since all ya'll grabbed for everything at the same time, all ya'll get to say Grace before we eat." Ashlynn informed them, pushing passed them into the kitchen where she set the sandwiches she had down on the island counter before V followed with the sandwiches she had, giggling all the while.

"Sucks to be you guys." Venus mumbled, going to the fridge to grab something to drink.

"Keep it up Baby V, keep it up," Dom threatened playfully.

"Nyeh, yeah, yeah." Venus grumbled, making a face in Dom's direction.

Dom rolled his eyes good naturedly before everyone said a short Grace. Ashlynn smacked everyone's hands, not allowing them to just grab what they wanted, and sorted the sandwiches out by their contents. She grabbed hers and Luciano's sandwiches before allowing everyone else to decide what they wanted.

"Now you can grab." She said as she sat at the table, setting Luciano's sandwich down at the seat next to her.

Dinner progressed as it normally did, full of happy conversation and laughs. It wasn't until Venus and Ashlynn went into the kitchen to throw the trash away that something happened. Ashlynn had turned to the fridge to get another drink and when she turned back around, she found Venus leaning heavily against the island counter.

"You okay, V?" Ashlynn set her drink down on the counter as she looked at her pale friend.

"Just a little dizzy. I think I'm gonna go lay down for a bit." Venus told her as though nothing was wrong. But as she turned to walk back into the living room, she collapsed right where she was.

"Venus!" Ashlynn had run around the counter, barely catching Venus' head before it hit the ground, resting it in her lap as everyone else came running.

"What happened?" Someone asked, Ashlynn couldn't figure out who as her attention was on her fallen friend.

"I don't know! She said she was dizzy and then she collapsed!" Ashlynn cried, tears filling her eyes. "And I don't think she's breathing!" Ashlynn laid Venus' head down on the ground carefully, but quickly before she went about figuring out if her friend was breathing. "She's not breathing!" Ashlynn ripped Venus' shirt open, glad that her friend had worn a button up, but then immediately wished that she hadn't seen what laid beneath the fabric. Venus was skinny, and not just a little bit, she seemed almost malnourished, Ashlynn would go as far as calling her friend an anorexic. And that worried her as she set about searching for a heartbeat. "Faint heartbeat. Get my phone and call Andrew. Make sure he comes here and doesn't say anything to anyone at the hospital." Ashlynn ordered as she situated herself to perform CPR on her friend; lifting Venus' head and checking that she hadn't started breathing on her own before plugging the other girl's nose and breathing into her mouth twice and then beginning chest compressions, and then repeating. "C'mon Venus, don't you dare do this to me!" She cried as she checked for her friend's breathing.

"Baby Girl, he's asking questions I don't have answers to," Dom's voice sounded from where he was standing on the other side of Venus, behind where Johnny knelt down to take over giving Venus CPR.

Ashlynn stood and took the phone from Dom, watching Johnny continue CPR on Venus as she spoke to Andrew. "Andrew," She spoke, her voice shaking, as Andrew listed off questions. "Andrew! I don't know! She hasn't been eating much, if at all for like, the last eight weeks and she said she was dizzy and she was going to go lay down and she just collapsed. She stopped breathing and her heartbeat was faint. We're preforming CPR right now. No. I'm not taking her to a fucking hospital. They'll put her in some sort of rehab and never let her leave." Ashlynn took a deep breath as she listened to Andrew. "No, damn it, you're not listening! I need _you_ to come _here_. I can't let her get locked up, okay?! Silver just left and I'm one of the last things tying her to Xander, don't you dare make me abandon her."

"I could get in some real trouble for this, Ashlynn." Andrew told her.

"I know, but you've made house calls before, just make it seem like another one. Please." Ashlynn pleaded.

"She's breathing!" Johnny called.

"Oh thank God." Ashlynn breathed softly.

"I'll be there soon." Andrew told her before hanging up.

"Andrew will be here soon," Ashlynn told everyone as Venus groaned weakly.

"Why did you call him?" Venus whined softly.

"Because you haven't been eating, you're practically nothing but skin and bones, you said you were dizzy and then fucking passed out and _stopped breathing_!" Ashlynn cried incredulously. "I mean, I knew you weren't eating _much_, but I thought you'd be smart enough to know that you could _die_ if you didn't eat enough to keep yourself sustained." Ashlynn knelt down next to Venus, tears falling from her eyes as the pixie-haired girl glared at her. "You're my best friend, my Bestest Best Friend, and I love you, but you almost died. I get to call you stupid for that. So you're going to suck it up and deal with it when Andrew gets here, no complaining, because I'm not ready to lose my sister!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Venus whispered, not being able to speak much louder.

"You're right, you're not! You're going to stay here until Andrew gets here. You're going to let him check you out and make sure you're alright and then you're going to deal with whatever he says has to be done; even if you have to be on bed-rest for a month!"

"But-"

"No! No buts!" More than just Ashlynn cried, causing Venus to pout.

"And we'll be making sure that you start eating at least three meals a day as soon as your stomach can handle it." Torben chimed in cheekily.

"You guys blow." Venus grumbled.

"Only on the weekends." Torben commented with cheeky nonchalance, breaking some of the tension. "But seriously, we're gonna make sure you're healthy."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Venus grumbled softly, leaning heavily against Johnny as a buzz sounded through the house.

Ashlynn stood and pushed the intercom button, "Andrew?"

"I'm here."

"Alone?"

"Yes Ashlynn, I'm alone."

"Alright, I'm opening the gate." She informed him before pushing the button to trigger the gate.

Minutes later, Andrew was walking in the front door, not bothering to knock and wait to be let in, only to pause momentarily at the sight of the crowd in the kitchen. He shook his head slightly as he proceeded into the kitchen and knelt down next to Johnny, whom Venus was still leaning against. Andrew took in Venus' malnourished form with another shake of his head before he set about checking her vitals, ignoring Johnny's glare as he gently poked and prodded at Venus.

"Unfortunately," Andrew began about twenty minutes later after he'd finished looking Venus over. "I can't put her on an IV, but since she's not unconscious, an IV might not be necessary for her to get the nutrients she's obviously lacking."

"So, what do you recommend?" Dom asked, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Bed rest, first and foremost. Slowly build up to solid foods, her stomach won't be able to handle solids for a while, so it's best to start with just broth, possibly juices, and maybe, I stress the maybe, bread." Andrew spoke as he stood up.

"Thank you Andrew," Ashlynn said softly from where she stood, wrapped in Jesse's arms. Venus grumbled about the prescribed bed rest and weakly flipped Andrew off for it before Johnny stood with her in his arms and left the kitchen, taking Venus up to her room. Ashlynn laughed softly, hefting herself up onto the island counter where she watched Andrew pack up his things. "Hey, are you gonna come for Thanksgiving?"

"If I don't make it back to visit the family, then yes, I'll be here. Just like always." Andrew told her. "I'll see you guys later." And with that, he showed himself out and they heard him get in his car and drive off.

"Hey Baby Girl?" Vince called from where he had sat down at the kitchen table, still not used to standing for long periods of time.

"Yes Vinny?" She asked with a cheeky grin, knowing the nickname bothered him.

"How come you never told us you had a tattoo?" His question gained a few raised eyebrows and exclaimed 'what's as everyone looked to her.

"Because you never asked?" Ashlynn countered with a shrug.

"Well then how come we've never noticed it?" Vince shot back.

"Uh, I dunno, because you're all oblivious? Do I need to point out that I have more than just my ears pierced? Actually, it's probably because I don't usually have my hair up, so you can't see the back of my neck. Do I need to point out that you've also never seen Venus' tattoo until today, too?"

"Baby V has a tattoo?" Vince asked.

"Hm, guess that with the commotion, none of you noticed it while I was performing CPR." Ashlynn mused as she reached a hand back to trace along her tattoo.

"When did you get it?" Letty asked, watching Ashlynn curiously.

"It was after we all turned eighteen," Ashlynn started softly. "Silver, Venus, and I went out and got matching tattoos. Yin and Yang butterfly koi. V and I got it on the back of our necks and Silver got it around her navel. Venus got another one that she'd been drawing out since her parents died, I was going to get one, on my right leg, but every time I look at the sketch I drew, it just looks incomplete."

"What's Baby V's tattoo?" Leon asked from where he was standing with an arm wrapped around Torben's waist in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.

Ashlynn gave a soft smile, remembering how she, Venus, and Silver had researched meanings of flowers for the tattoo. "It goes up her left side, took us a while to convince her that in order for the guy to do the tattoo she needed to take her shirt off, or at least pull it up, but she was determined to get it done, so eventually, she obviously took her shirt off. I had to remind the guy a couple times not to stare at her scars, but otherwise, V was alright. The tattoo starts on her hip, with a bed of white clover mixed with flowers of rosemary, then there's lavender delphiniums within three cherry blossom branches, at the end of the branches on her ribs are the birth and death dates of Xander and their parents."

"What's the point of the flowers?" Vince asked. "I get the branches, but what's with the flowers."

Ashlynn shook her head and rolled her eyes and Vince good-naturedly. "We spent time researching the meanings of flowers and such so that the flowers and the branches made their own statement. The white clover means 'I promise', rosemary for remembrance, delphiniums signify the ability to transcend the bounds of time and space, and the cherry blossom branches stand for the transience of life. Over all, the tattoo means that though death is inevitable, she'll always remember."

"That's deep," Letty commented, clearly impressed.

Ashlynn giggled, "You might not think it, but Venus is a deep person." Her statement gathered noises of disbelief from Dom, Letty, Vince, and Leon. "Go ahead, don't believe me, but it's true."

"She's going to be alright you know," Torben spoke up, having seen the fear that flashed across Ashlynn's face.

"Oh, I know," Ashlynn muttered darkly. "I'm going to make damn sure of it."

"I don't doubt that," Torben murmured with a chuckle.

"Where did Luciano go?" Ashlynn asked, not having seen her son since she and Venus had initially left the living room.

"He's huddled up behind the couch with Myka," Leon told her softly, nodding towards the couch just out of sight from where she was at.

Ashlynn nodded and hopped off the counter before making her way into the living room and behind the couch where Luciano was curled up with Myka. "Bambino?" She spoke softly, settling herself down onto the floor next to him. She saw his shoulder shaking and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him into her lap. "C'mere Bambino," She spoke softly, petting her hair.

When Luciano spoke, his voice was trembling and tears were sliding down his face, "Is Auntie V going to die, Mamma?"

"No Bambino, she's going to be just fine. She's not going anywhere." Ashlynn assured the distraught boy in her arms, rocking gently as sobs wreaked his body. "She's just a little unhealthy right now and she's going to need help, alright?"

Luciano's words bled together as he spoke rapidly in Italian, saying he was scared of losing his Auntie V after his Mamma just got better. He was afraid that everyone was going to leave him somehow, one way or another, and he didn't want to be alone. For a four year old boy, Ashlynn thought sadly, he sure had a lot of worries.

"Nobody is going to leave Luciano, not permanently. They might go somewhere for a while, but they'll come back." Ashlynn told him softly, hoping to alleviate his fears as she stroked his hair and rocked him gently.

"Like Brian?" Luciano asked softly, causing Ashlynn to pause.

"Yes, like Brian," She confirmed with a nod, wiping away some of Luciano's tears. "Are you going to be okay now, Luc?"

"Can I see Auntie V?" He asked, his voice hitching softly.

"Of course you can, Little Man," Jesse told him, startling Ashlynn, not having heard him walk up. Jesse helped Ashlynn stand as she cradled Luciano to her and the rest of the Team and Torben watched as they walked up the stairs and out of sight.

"How soon you wanna bet he's gonna pop the big question?" Torben piped up softly, a small smile on his face.

"Probably after or around her birthday," Dom replied with a grin as he turned back into the kitchen.

Ashlynn walked quietly down the hall to Venus' room with Jesse next to her, watching him from the corner of her eye. Luciano had wanted Jesse to hold him and Jesse agreed with no hesitation and was now holding Luciano to him, one arm held the boy to him, while the other rubbed the boy's back gently. With a soft smile, Ashlynn turned to Venus' door and could barely hear her and Johnny talking behind it before she knocked on the door. Moments later, Johnny opened the door, looking at Ashlynn questioningly.

"Luciano wants to see Venus," Ashlynn informed him softly, gesturing behind her at Jesse and Luciano. "He's pretty upset."

Johnny looked passed Ashlynn to see Luciano peeking his eyes out from where they had been buried in Jesse's neck, tears still silently falling. "Of course," Johnny said softly, opening the door to let them walk in.

Ashlynn stepped aside and let Jesse enter Venus' bedroom and take Luciano to the bed where Venus was sitting against the headboard. "See, she's alright, Little Man." Jesse crooned softly to Luciano as he knelt next to Venus' bed.

"I'm just fine, kiddo. I just have to make sure I eat." Venus told Luciano softly as more tears filled the boy's eyes. Luciano leap out of Jesse's arms and onto Venus' bed and proceeded to crawl up next to her and curl against her. "Hey, I'm going to be alright, no need for tears." She told the boy as she wrapped her arms around him. "It's going to be alright." She murmured to Luciano as Jesse stood up and walked back over to Ashlynn.

Luciano broke out into Italian again, repeating what he'd said to Ashlynn downstairs, tears falling faster and faster with each word.

"Tell you what," Venus stage whispered to Luciano as she wiped away some of the rapidly falling tears. "Maybe if it's alright with your mom, you can sleep here tonight, yeah?"

Luciano look up at Venus, then over to Ashlynn pleadingly, his plea coming out in a choked sob, "Please, Mamma! Please! Papa, please?"

"You have school tomorrow, remember? So you'll have to be up at the same time as usual." Ashlynn informed her son gently, a soft smile touching her lips as she heard Luciano call Jesse Papa.

"I will Mamma, I will!" Luciano cried, his eyes wide, fearing that his Mamma wouldn't allow him to stay with his Aunt.

"I'll take him to school in the morning," Johnny offered with a shrug. "I'll be up by then anyway."

"Are you sure?" Ashlynn asked, looking over at Johnny.

"It's no problem, just give me directions and I'll get him there." Johnny assured Ashlynn with a gentle smile.

"Alright, the directions should be on the fridge," Ashlynn acquiesced with a short nod. "Go get changed, Bambino, and you can come back and stay with Venus and Johnny tonight. I think it's an early night for everybody."

Luciano was off the bed and out the door before Ashlynn even finished talking. He was back about five minutes later, wearing a pair of pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt. He crawled back into Venus' bed and curled up against her, grabbing ahold of her shirt in a tight grip, as though afraid that she could, and would, disappear if he didn't have a hold on her. Bidding the trio a goodnight, Ashlynn closed Venus' door and leaned against Jesse as he wrapped an arm around her as they walked to her room.

"She's good with him," Jesse commented softly as they came to Ashlynn's door near the stairs.

"So are you," Ashlynn told him just as softly, a sweet smile on her face before she turned and looked down into the front entryway to the living room. "We're going to bed. Goodnight all." She called down the stairs, gaining a multitude of replies from everyone before she and Jesse disappeared into her room, the door clicking shut softly behind them.

"He's a good kid," Jesse told her softly as they changed and crawled into bed.

"Yeah, but you're still good with him. Like a natural Papa." Ashlynn murmured, cuddling against Jesse's side, resting her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"You ever thought about having another one?" Jesse asked softly, running his fingers through Ashlynn's hair.

"Another kid?"

"Yeah."

"You asking to help?" Ashlynn teased, looking up at Jesse's face.

There was a smile on his face as he laughed softly, "Maybe."

Ashlynn giggled softly, "I think you're supposed to ask for marriage before kids, but yeah, I wouldn't mind having another one. Maybe two."

Jesse smiled down at her, kissing her forehead gently, still running his fingers through her hair. "Well alright then."

When Ashlynn woke the next morning, it was already ten and Jesse was no longer laying next to her. The spot on the bed, however, was still warm and as Ashlynn focused, she could hear the shower in her bathroom running. With a grin, Ashlynn crept into her bathroom, careful not to make any noise, and watched Jesse for a few moments before she stripped out of her clothing and slid in behind him, glad the shower door was quiet, so as to not alert Jesse she was there. She stood back for a few moments, watching the water running down Jesse's body before she made her presence known.

"Morning," She called just loud enough to be heard over the running water, causing Jesse to jump and spin around. "Careful, don't want to fall, hitting your head on the wall or floor would be a _lot_ different than hitting it on the hood of a car."

"Well, maybe you should stop sneaking up on me then," Jesse replied with a teasing smile. "And good morning to you too."

"You were missing when I woke up," Ashlynn informed him in a matter-of-fact sort of way. "I don't seem to sleep well without my new pillow."

Jesse laughed as Ashlynn stepped towards him, under the spray of the showerheads. "Well, I'll have to be sure not to take your pillow away in the future."

Ashlynn grinned, "See that you do."

An hour later found Ashlynn and Jesse dressed and making their way downstairs, hair still damp. Leon was the only one in the kitchen when they entered and he raised an eyebrow at their similar state.

"Yes?" Ashlynn asked, walking to the fridge and grabbing a carton of eggs, the cheese, and the mushrooms.

"Nothing," Leon hummed as Ashlynn walked to the stove, grabbing a pan along the way. "Tran said that he gave Baby V a fruit juice smoothie, all one hundred percent fruit or something like that. He couldn't find any broth or anything in your pantry."

Ashlynn nodded as she stifled a yawn as she set to making herself and Jesse omelettes, "Yeah, we don't have canned broth I don't think. I'll make some chicken noodle soup for dinner and she can have the broth, maybe some noodles and bread."

"Homemade chicken noodle soup. Sounds good." Leon muttered.

"Yeah, just need a chicken." Ashlynn murmured as she poured the beaten egg in the pan with some of the cheese and sliced mushrooms. "Gonna have to go to the store before session starts so I can get the chicken cooking."

"When does it start?" Jesse asked from the counter near the coffee makers, waiting for the pot to finish brewing.

"I scheduled it for noon, this one isn't the high school students." Ashlynn explained as she plated the first omelette and began making the second one. "This one is graduates and stuff."

"Graduates and stuff, huh?" Leon teased. "Very eloquent."

"I'm surprised you know that word," Ashlynn teased back, watching the omelette, waiting for it to be finished. "It's the high school graduates that hadn't gone off to college yet or are trying to get into college, some of them are just people who want to know how to dance, so, you know, I teach them. If they can afford it."

"Sounds fun." Jesse commented before addressing Leon, "What have we got today?"

"Got a couple engines that need tune ups, apparently people around here prefer bringing their cars to Baby Girl and Baby V rather than auto shops. Something about being straight up, no bullshit," Leon replied as he sipped at his coffee.

It was an hour later, after Jesse and Ashlynn had finished eating, that Ashlynn went up to check on Venus. Venus grumbled at Ashlynn, sulking on her bed, flipping through channels looking for something to watch.

"I'm going to make chicken noodle soup for dinner, you want me to buy some canned stuff to keep you sustained?" Ashlynn asked, not letting Venus' unhappy mood bother her.

Venus scowled and huffed, "Tomato soup I guess, if you're going to be making chicken noodle soup."

"You need anything right now?"

"I could use some more juice, whatever it was that Johnny brought me."

"I'll see if there's more of that and if not, juice it is." After refilling Venus' glass, Ashlynn grabbed her wallet, her keys, and slipped on a pair of flip flops before heading out into the garage. As she was pulling out of the garage and down the driveway, she paused near Dom, Letty, Leon, and Jesse. "Anyone need anything from the store?"

"More Corona would be good," Dom called back to her from where he was elbow deep in an engine.

"Anything else?"

"Gonna need some more fruit, I'm pretty sure you're almost out." Leon told her, not looking up from the engine he was working on.

"Corona and fruit?"

"Chips and salsa," Letty called over her shoulder.

"Need anything Jesse?" She asked as Jesse walked up to her window.

"Gum, spearmint gum." Jesse replied. "And probably some more soda."

"Alright. I'll be back soon." She said with a smile, leaning out to kiss Jesse briefly before he stepped back so she could drive off.

Half an hour later, Ashlynn returned. In the trunk were a couple cases of Corona (which she wouldn't answer how she had gotten), a good amount of limes, chips, salsa, fruit, gum, a whole chicken, some chicken breasts and other meats and some fish, and a multitude of Top Ramen packages. She had just enough time to get everything put away and the chicken seasoned and in the oven before people start showing up for the session.

The two and a half hour session felt amazing for Ashlynn, after not having been able to do so for so long. The group was picking up the steps pretty quickly, which makes it easier on Ash, since she doesn't have to go over everything fifty times in five minutes. Once everyone had left, Ashlynn entered the kitchen to check on the chicken before setting the timer again and getting out a pot to make a packet of Top Ramen for Venus, who is just as grumpy as earlier, before going to get Luciano from preschool.

It was two days later that Venus received a call from Sergeant Tanner that she handed over to Ashlynn, whom was informed that they had finally figured out who had hurt her son and monetary reparations would be delivered.

Over the next two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, Ashlynn slowly built Venus up to eating chicken, fish, bread, and rice with the broth and fruit juice smoothies. And today, Ashlynn has banned anyone from working on cars, but also refuses to let them in the kitchen while she's cooking, which Mia -who had shown up around ten, claiming no school for Thanksgiving and Black Friday- found unfair. Just as Ashlynn finished putting out the finger foods, Scott and Kyle showed up with a couple bottles of wine and a pie. As soon as they had set down the bottles and the pie, Ashlynn had shooed them both out of the kitchen, refusing to accept their help as she cooked, or prepared everything else while the turkey cooked. Andrew showed up an hour or so after Scott and Kyle, bearing a few more bottles of wine and a couple apple ciders, and he too was shooed out of the kitchen. While she had been cooking, Ashlynn had called her grandma from her mother's side of the family, as everyone always gathered at grandma's house for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and she talked to everyone that she hadn't talked to lately, not since the funeral at least, and she wished them all a Happy Thanksgiving. She couldn't stop the grin that spread itself across her face as her grandma reclaimed the phone and worried about her, Silver and Venus, to which she explained, very briefly, that she'd reconnected with family from dad's side of the family and friends were coming over and Silver was now with her mother and sisters, so no, they weren't spending Thanksgiving alone, thank you for worrying though, which in turn had made her grandmother happy knowing that her granddaughter and her friends weren't alone. By about seven, the large dining table was laden with rolls, bread slices, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, vegetables, candied yams, and a turkey waiting to be carved.

"Dinner is ready! Dom, come carve the turkey!" Ashlynn called as she sat some of the wine and cider bottles on the table. She watched as everyone made their way into the dining room, a smile on her face as everyone surrounded the table. "Who wants to say Grace?"

In the end, Ashlynn ended up saying Grace and then they went around the table, saying what they were thankful for while Dom carved the turkey. The rest of the night was spent happily, joking and laughing with friends and family, forgetting about anything that might be wrong or could go wrong. Once dinner was finished and the dishes in the dishwasher, Ashlynn brought the pies out to the table and called everyone back into the dining room for dessert. After dessert, it was decided that no one was driving home because everyone had had alcohol in some form or another, and Ashlynn pointed out empty guest rooms that could be used before she picked up Luciano, who had fallen asleep on the couch while leaning against Venus, and took him up to bed. With a yawn, Ashlynn wished everyone a good night and disappeared into her bedroom, not noticing the way everyone seemed to look a tad bit shifty. She was barely aware of Jesse coming to bed, only vaguely hearing a whispered good night and a kiss to the top of her head as she rolled over and curled up around him.

As the next days passed, Ashlynn would disappear for hours at a time, coming home with bags and bags of purchases, only to hide them away from everybody. She'd even taken Venus out with her on Black Friday so that the other girl could finally get out of the house after having been on forced bed rest for the last few weeks. When she wasn't out and about, Ashlynn was still teaching her classes, and today was one such day. This class was made up of high school students for one of the local schools that was making a play production out of _Dirty Dancing_ and the school was paying her a fair fee for teaching the students the moves. Today, they had created a makeshift stage in Ashlynn's yard while the Team was working on a few cars that they had that day. Vince was slowly but surely able to help more as his physical therapy appointments continued, which made him less grumpy, not by much, by hey, anything is better than nothing.

"C'mon Miss Ash, we wanna see you dance with your boyfriend!" The girl playing the part of Frances 'Baby' Houseman piped up excitedly.

"Yeah Mamma!" Luciano cried excitedly, having been picked up from preschool about twenty minutes before the high school students had shown up. "Dance with Papa!"

"He's busy Baby, maybe another time." Ashlynn replied as she motioned for everyone to get back into position before turning to Luciano. "Aren't you supposed to be inside keeping Auntie Venus company?"

Luciano giggled before darting towards the front door without an answer.

"Yeah, busy staring at you." The girl commented with a grin as she moved about the makeshift stage to get to where she was supposed to be.

With a roll of her eyes, Ashlynn glanced over her shoulder to see that the girl was indeed correct, Jesse was staring at her before he returned his attention to the engine he was working on. Ashlynn turned back to the students and got up on the stage to direct them, correcting their frames and postitioning.

Later, when the teenagers had all left, taking the pieces of the makeshift stage with them, Ashlynn had gone inside and called a pizza parlor and ordered a number of pizzas not feeling like cooking anything for the night. The Team came in when the pizza arrived, everyone sitting around the dining room table, chatting, drinking, and eating like they always did.

"That one girl that talked to you during that lesson, what did she say to you?" Jesse asked Ashlynn softly halfway through dinner.

"Which one?" Ashlynn asked just as softly.

"The one you talked to before Luciano ran back inside."

"Oh, that one." Ashlynn smiled softly. "She was insisting that they all wanted to see you and me dancing."

"Oh really?"

"Mhmm," Ashlynn hummed as she took another bite of her pizza.

"Well, I don't know how to dance." Jesse commented to her offhandedly.

"Oh, well, then who better to be your teacher?" Ashlynn commented back with a sweet smile.

"Ew, gag me, stop flirting." Venus grumbled from Ashlynn's right, causing her to blush at her friend's words.

"Shut up Venus." Ashlynn grumbled, sending a half-hearted glare at her best friend.

With Christmas right around the corner, Ashlynn and Venus were bustling around, Venus only when allowed by Ashlynn and most often under Johnny's supervision when he could make it up to the house. Pretty soon, the whole house was covered in Christmas decorations, the only thing missing was a tree. Dom took care of that though, having taken Jesse, Vince, Leon, and Luciano out the weekend before Christmas to a tree farm to find one suitable enough for Ashlynn's house. While the five were out looking for trees, Johnny had come up and was visiting with Venus because his family was adamant about him spending Christmas day with them, so he was getting as much time with Venus as he could beforehand.

"I will spend the day with my family, like they want me too, and then I will return here and spend the night and the few days after with you." Johnny told Venus as they sat on the couch, Venus cuddled up against his side under orders from Ashlynn to relax.

"Promise?" Venus asked, looking up at Johnny's face.

"Promise." He confirmed, gaining a smile from Venus, who leaned up and pressed a kiss to Johnny's jaw.

"Here," Came Ashlynn's voice from behind them as she was walking passed the couch. "Eat." She handed Venus a plate with cheese, crackers, and bread.

"What? No meat?" Venus asked sarcastically.

"Watch it," Ashlynn snarked as she continued walking passed to go to dig through a closet, pulling out a box of wrapping paper before disappearing into her room, only to come back out and disappear again to return with some of the bags she'd brought home days and even weeks before. She did this multiple times until she had all of her bags and locked her door before beginning the process of wrapping the gifts she'd bought for everybody and putting name tags on all of them as she went. It was a long and tedious process that she just barely finished when Dom, Vince, Jesse, Leon, and Luciano got home, announcing that they had found the perfect tree and had picked up dinner on the way home.

"Could you have found one that was any bigger?" Ashlynn asked as she looked at the tree that Dom, Jesse, Leon, and Vince hauled into the house and set up a little ways behind the couch, that had been moved closer to the television just to be sure that there was enough room.

"Maybe, but then it probably wouldn't have fit." Dom grinned.

"Psh, you couldn't even be sure that this one would fit! It's got to be nearly fourteen feet tall!" Ashlynn snarked, narrowing her eyes at Dom in a half-serious manner.

"I WANNA PUT THE STAR ON!" Venus cried ecstatically.

"NO!" Ashlynn cried back. "Not this year, you're still healing!"

"BUT!" Venus cried, pouting as she looked at Ashlynn pleadingly.

"No, you crazy woman." Ashlynn reiterated firmly.

"Meanie," Venus pouted, leaning into Johnny's side.

"Next year, at your house." Ashlynn replied, trying to appease her best friend.

"Fine." Venus muttered petulantly.

"Now, eat, then we'll put the lights on and tomorrow, we'll spend the day decorating the tree."

"But! It's only three days til Christmas! Why should we wait until tomorrow to decorate the tree, why not just stay up late tonight and decorate it?" Venus argued as they all crowded the island to eat the Taco Bell that the guys had brought home.

"Because, we always decorate it the Sunday before Christmas!" Ashlynn retorted as she bit into one of the soft tacos after Letty said grace, having snatched a nacho container, claiming she was starving.

"Yeah, but if we stay up late enough, it'll still be Sunday anyway." Venus shot back.

"You're just upset because I won't let you put the star on this year."

"Well, duh."

Ashlynn just rolled her eyes, "Tomorrow."

"Ugh, fine. You're no fun."

"Yeah, uh huh."

Sunday was spent as Ashlynn insisted, decorating the tree with the ornaments that had been collected over the years. There were ornaments that she insisted no one else touch, those being ones that had belonged to her parents and were especially precious to her. She and her mother may not have gotten along, but if there was something that she liked about her mother, it was her taste in Christmas ornaments. There were two specific ornaments that Ashlynn was overly protective of, and they had both belonged to her father, they were glass blown, about the size of a softball, one was green and white and the other was iridescent. Ashlynn was very specific that there be two large spots left for the ornaments where they could be supported by other branches so that they wouldn't fall and shatter.

"Where did those come from?" Dom asked as he watched Ashlynn hang the two ornaments on the tree.

"They were Papa's, I don't know where he bought them, otherwise, I'd get more." Ashlynn replied as she stepped away from the tree, smiling as she took in the finished product before flitting off to the kitchen where Mia, whom had shown up a few hours earlier, was making dinner for everyone, all the while smacking hands that tried to grab food before it was finished.

"So," Ashlynn began, slipping up onto the counter next to Mia. "You're off for the entire week?"

"Yeah." Mia answered as she stirred the fajita meat around in the pan with onions and green peppers and just a little bit of garlic. "They're only giving students a week off for Christmas, which isn't too bad, but at the same time, it sucks because that means less time to spend with everyone. And it's getting pretty lonely down in L.A."

"Well, maybe if Sergeant Tanner and that FBI guy are true to their word, it won't have to be so lonely anymore, but we'll just have to see, yeah?" Ashlynn murmured with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I guess so." Mia muttered back.

"I know you miss him."

"Of course I miss him, he's my brother."

"Not Dom. Brian."

Mia paused for a moment before replying with, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. And it's alright to miss him." Ashlynn told her gently. "There was a reason that it was Johnny's house that the FBI stormed that day." She paused, watching Mia, knowing that she had her cousin's complete attention, even though the other girl was refusing to look at her. "He didn't want it to be the Team... He didn't want to hurt you, and I know that he did, but he never meant for that to happen. And somewhere, deep down, I know you know that he didn't mean to." Ashlynn gave Mia a supportive smile when the other glanced at her before returning to the food she was making.

"Ashlynn," Mia called, causing her to pause as she made her way out of the kitchen to turn back. "Thank you."


	28. Author's Note

Hey everybody,

So, this is probably going to get a lot of people's hopes up, you know, everyone expecting that this will be another chapter update, but unfortunately it's not. I want to give my readers the chance to have some input on the next chapter. And as that chapter is going to start out with the continuation of Christmas, I would like to ask my readers what they think Ashlynn, Venus, Torben, Johnny, Jesse, Dom and the rest of the Team and all of my wacky OCs should gift each other, I think it would be totally awesome to have input from whoever would like to offer suggestions. If you'd like to give me some ideas to, hopefully, help me get the next chapter out sooner, go ahead and message me, or if you'd like, just leave the suggestion in a review.

I would love to hear from you all!


End file.
